Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisBiden, Bass press for police reform after meeting Floyd family Biden, Harris condemn surge in antisemitic incidents Mexican president: FAA safety downgrade meant to benefit US carriers MORE (D-Calif.) on Sunday officially launched her bid for the presidency in 2020, kicking off her campaign with a speech touting unity and equality. “With faith in God, with fidelity to country and with the fighting spirit I got from my mother, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States," she said Sunday during a rally in Oakland, Calif., her hometown. "I'm running to fight for an America where the economy works for all people. For an America where you only have to work one job to pay the bills," she added. ADVERTISEMENT Harris, whose campaign slogan is "Kamala Harris for the People," added that her candidacy would be "for all people." “I’m running for president because I love my country. I’m running to be president of the people, by the people and for all people," she said. Harris, a former prosecutor, first announced last week that she intended to run during an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America." "When I look at this moment in time, I know the American people deserve to have someone who is going to fight for them ... and put them in front of self-interest," she said during the interview on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Harris during Sunday’s rally also criticized President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE's administration, pointing to his immigration policies, his attacks on the press and the 2017 tax cut, which she said she would reverse as president. She declared that America is “better than this.” "We are here at this moment in time because we must answer a fundamental question: Who are we? Who are we as Americans? So let's answer that question, to the world, to each other, right here, right now. America, we are better than this," she said. "The American Dream and our American democracy are under attack like never before," she added. Harris also touched on a number of other subjects she would address as president. She called for criminal justice reform, a reduction in the gender pay gap and a middle-class tax cut. She also voiced her support for "Medicare for all," universal pre-K and debt-free college. She said she would work to reduce police brutality and mass shootings as well as to improve voting rights and women's reproductive rights. She also said she is "not perfect" but pledged to "lead with integrity" and "speak the truth." "As we embark on this campaign, I will tell you this: I am not perfect. Lord knows I am not perfect. But I will always speak with decency and moral clarity and treat all people with dignity and respect. I will lead with integrity and I will speak the truth," Harris said. The first-term senator is joining what is expected to be a crowded Democratic primary field. Sens. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenOn The Money: Biden administration launches trade dispute against Canadian dairy industry | Warren urges Biden to replace Fed's Quarles Warren urges Biden to replace Fed's Quarles in testy exchange Warren offers bill to increase IRS budget to .5 billion MORE (D-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten GillibrandDemocratic feud erupts over scope of military sexual assault bill Overnight Defense: Austin, Bidens thank National Guard as Capitol mission ends | CBO estimates nuclear arsenal to cost 4B over 10 years | Senate Armed Services chairman backs change in prosecuting military sexual assault Senate Armed Services chair throws support behind changing roles of military commanders in sexual assault prosecutions MORE (D-N.Y.) have each launched presidential exploratory committees, while former Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro (D) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) have officially launched bids. Sens. Cory Booker Cory BookerBiden, Bass press for police reform after meeting Floyd family Bipartisan group of lawmakers reintroduces bill to give inmates Medicaid access Bass: 'Essential' for police reform bill to address qualified immunity MORE (D-N.J.) and Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersSenate competitiveness bill includes B authorization for Bezos space company Sanders wants government to get 'piece' of US semiconductor companies in exchange for aid Poll: 51 percent oppose Sanders-led resolution to block weapons sales to Israel MORE (I-Vt.) are among a range of other candidates also expected to join the race. Harris said Sunday that the election would not be “an ordinary election” but added that she has “the power of the people.” “We can achieve the dreams of our parents,” she continued. “We can heal our nation. We can give our children the future they deserve. We can reclaim the American dream for every single person in our country. And we can restore America’s moral leadership on this planet. So let’s do this.”<doc-sep>California Sen. Kamala Harris announced Monday that she will run for president in 2020, joining an increasingly crowded field of Democrats seeking to challenge President Donald Trump. Harris' announcement, made on "Good Morning America," comes following months of speculation surrounding the Democrat, a rising star in the party who was elected California's junior senator in 2016 after two terms as the state's attorney general. "I love my country. I love my country," she said. "This is a moment in time that I feel a sense of responsibility to stand up and fight for the best of who we are." The bid for the presidency puts Harris in a position -- should she emerge from the Democratic field and defeat Trump -- to become the first woman and woman of color to ascend to the nation's highest office. Less than two weeks ago, Harris, 54, said she was not yet ready to make an announcement about a possible campaign. In the interim, at least three serious contenders declared their candidacies or interest in running, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., earlier announced that she was forming a presidential exploratory committee. As part of her announcement, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Harris cited the civil rights leader as an inspiration, saying that she seeks to continue his fight to make the country better. "The thing about Dr. King that always inspires me is that he was aspirational. He was aspirational like our country is aspirational. We know that we've not yet reached those ideals. But our strength is that we fight to reach those ideals," the senator said. "So today, the day we celebrate Dr. King, is a very special day for all of us as Americans and I'm honored to be able to make my announcement on the day we commemorate him." In interviews earlier this month coinciding with the release of her memoir, Harris explained that she was empowered at a young age with the disposition to take personal responsibility to address the hardships she encountered, an attribute that appears to be part of her pitch to voters. "I was raised that, when you see a problem, you don't complain about it, you go and do something about it," she said on "Good Morning America" on Jan. 8. On Monday, Harris further explained that she believed the American people were looking for a commander in chief with "leadership skills, experience and integrity," who will "fight on their behalf." "On all of those points, I feel very confident about my ability to lead," she said. "I feel very confident about my ability to listen and to work on behalf of the American public. The American public wants a fighter, and they want someone that is going to fight like heck for them and not fight based on self-interests. I'm prepared to do that." Though Harris is widely portrayed as a progressive member of the Senate and has staked out positions on a number of issues aligning herself with the liberal wing of the Democratic party, she has recently faced some criticism over her tenure as California's attorney general -- a portion of her career during which Harris has said she was a "progressive prosecutor." "Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms as a district attorney and then the state’s attorney general, Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent," wrote Lara Bazelon, a University of San Francisco law professor, in a New York Times op-ed last week. "Most troubling, Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors." Bazelon goes on to write that if Harris "wants people who care about dismantling mass incarceration and correcting miscarriages of justice to vote for her, she needs to radically break with her past," and encourages her to "apologize to the wrongfully convicted people she has fought to keep in prison and to do what she can to make sure they get justice." On Monday, Harris released a video in which she explains her interest in launching a campaign, detailing values such as "truth, justice, decency, equality, freedom [and] democracy," which she says are "all on the line now." "The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values. That’s why I’m running for president of the United States," Harris says in the video, titled "Kamala Harris: For the People" -- the theme of her campaign. "I’m running to lift those voices. To bring our voices together." The senator further invites viewers to join her in Oakland, California, on Sunday, in what Harris' staff say will be the campaign's official launch. Though she has served only two years in the Senate, Harris has drawn interest from Democrats for her trenchant examinations on the Senate Judiciary Committee, particularly during last year's Supreme Court confirmation hearings for now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Both the Kavanaugh hearings and recent sessions with attorney general-nominee William Barr and acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler, became high-profile opportunities for senators with rumored 2020 interest to capture public attention. In addition to Harris, Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., all drew their share of praise from party loyalists. Following the record number of women and candidates of color elected during the 2018 midterm elections, Harris -- who was born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father -- was repeatedly floated as a presidential candidate who could similarly represent the increasing diversity of the United States. Asked earlier this month whether the country was ready for a woman of color to be president, Harris was unequivocal and expressed optimism. "Absolutely," she said, adding, "We need to give the American public more credit ... we have so much more in common than what separates us." Despite waiting until Monday to make her official announcement, Harris is no stranger to the early states where she will soon campaign. In 2018, the senator visited Iowa and South Carolina to stump for local candidates. It's also likely she could spend significant time in her home state of California, which moved up its primary to Super Tuesday in March 2020 in the hopes of playing a more significant role in the nominating process. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday portends to be a busy one for both those who have already thrown their hat into the Democratic primary ring and a number of potential candidates. At least seven high-profile Democrats are attending events commemorating the holiday across the country Monday, including former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who will be attending a National Action Network breakfast in Washington, D.C. Booker and Sanders will also speak at a rally at South Carolina's state house, and Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio, is marching in the city's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.<doc-sep>Politics & Government Watch Again: Kamala Harris Presidential Campaign Kickoff Kamala Harris kicked off her campaign on Sunday afternoon. You can watch a replay of the entire event here. Reply OAKLAND, CA — U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris is running for president and the California Democrat took the stage in Oakland on Sunday afternoon to formally kick off her campaign. The event, which kicked off around 4:30 p.m. EST, was livestreamed. You can watch a replay of the event in its entirety here. Harris wrote a short article on Medium announcing the event. She shared some themes from her campaign and highlighted her accomplished career, which includes being a prosecutor. "We were raised by a community with a deep belief in the promise of our country — and a deep understanding of the parts of that promise that still remain unfulfilled," wrote Harris. "We were taught to see a world beyond just ourselves. To be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of ALL people. We were raised to believe public service is noble and the fight for justice is everyone's responsibility. That, in many ways, formed my life." Harris' parents were immigrants from Jamaica and India, The Associated Press reported, and she entered the presidential race on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Harris was the first black woman to be elected district attorney in California. She was also the first woman, first African-American and first Asian-American to hold the position. Should she win the 2020 race, she would become the first African-American woman and the first person of Asian descent to become president. Harris said in her Oakland speech that 2019 is an "inflection point" in U.S. history. She sees herself as the best candidate to unite the country. "Even though we have powerful forces trying to sow hate and division, the truth is that, as Americans, we have much more in common than what separates us," she said.<doc-sep>
EMBED >More News Videos Who is running for president in 2020? The presidential election isn't until Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, but there's already mounting speculation about which candidates will run. OAKLAND, Calif. -- California Sen. Kamala Harris is formally kicking off her presidential campaign with a Sunday afternoon rally in Oakland.Harris announced her campaign for president in an interview on "Good Morning America" on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. She said a big part of her decision to run was the outcome of the 2016 election. "I'm running for president because I love my country. I'm running to be a president by the people. Of the people. For all the people," according to prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press.The appearance at a plaza outside City Hall was intended to portray her candidacy as the latest chapter in a lifetime of advocating for all people and to promote a message of unity. She began her career as a prosecutor in Oakland and later became California's attorney general. "My whole life, I've only had one client: The people," Harris says in her prepared remarks, echoing the words she has used in courtrooms and has adopted as her campaign's slogan.If Harris were to win the White House, she would be the first African-American woman and first person of Asian descent to be president.Harris' campaign is expected to highlight her career as a prosecutor as part of her rationale for seeking the presidency. Harris was the first black woman elected district attorney in California, as well as the first woman, first African-American and first Asian-American to hold that job. Some of her tenure as attorney general, particularly relating to criminal justice, has come under early scrutiny.