In her speech, Harris pointedly praised a number of progressive members of Congress, including two-time presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, but omitted any mention of the Democrats’ leaders in the House and Senate, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer.
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Schumer especially has been criticised for accepting a Republican bill to avoid a government shutdown and received an overall approval rating of just 17 per cent in a recent CNN poll.
Harris implicitly argued against compromising support for migrants, universities or the rule of law in the face of Trump’s deportations, defunding of colleges and provocation of judges.
“It is not OK to violate court orders. It is not OK to detain and disappear American citizens – or anyone – without due process,” she said.
“Instead of an administration working to advance America’s highest ideals, we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals.”
Trump intended to slash public education, shrink government and privatise its services, “all while giving tax breaks to the wealthiest among us”, she said. This was “an agenda that is not lowering costs, not making life more affordable and not what they promised”.
US President Donald Trump at a rally in Michigan to mark 100 days in office.Credit: AP
“It’s a narrow, self-serving vision of America where they punish truth-tellers, favour loyalists, cash in on their power and leave everyone to fend for themselves, all while abandoning allies and retreating from the world.”
Harris also warned America’s institutions may not constrain the president as the country’s founding fathers intended.
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“When the checks and balances ultimately collapse, if Congress fails to do its apart, or if the courts fail to do their part – or if both do their part but the president defies them anyway – that is called a constitutional crisis, and that is a crisis that will eventually impact everyone,” she said.
“If that happens, the one check, the one balance, the one power that must not fail is the voice of the people.”
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