Kamala Harris appeared Saturday afternoon at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre as part of her “107 Days Book Tour.” The former vice president was greeted by a full house of almost 4,000 people.
The conversation was moderated by MSNBC Senior Contributing Editor Michele Norris, who asked questions related to Harris’ memoir documenting her 2024 presidential campaign.
“We can’t watch you on stage, we can’t watch you on socials or on the news and know what could’ve been,” Norris said at the beginning of the conversation.
Published Sept. 23, Harris’ memoir sold 350,000 copies within the first week of publication and has been on The New York Times’ Best Sellers list since the week of Sept. 28.
Before the doors opened, long lines stretched three blocks across South Michigan Avenue. Attendees waited eagerly while vendors sold “107 Days” shirts, “No Kings” pins and other anti-Donald Trump merchandise.
The event opened with a 107-second video documenting Harris’ early political career and eventual presidential candidacy. Norris then introduced Harris, who received a standing ovation from the crowd. Before diving into questions, Norris thanked Harris for “taking control of the narrative” and “telling her own story.” Harris went on to explain that this was one of her main reasons for writing the book.
“This is a moment in American history,” Harris said. “Especially when so many people are trying to whitewash and otherwise engage in revisionist history, I wasn’t going to let this moment in history be told without my voice.”
Harris’s voice was interrupted a total of five times throughout the hour-long conversation. Within the first five minutes, a protester heckled Harris and was immediately drowned out by boos from the crowd.
One protestor shouted “Your legacy is genocide,” and others called her a war criminal. Harris previously clashed with protestors at other book tour events, including in New York City and San Francisco.
Harris responded sharply, and at one point asked a protester to pronounce her name correctly, prompting loud cheers from the crowd. After the second protestor was escorted out, Harris deflected blame to the current administration.
“I’m not President,” Harris said. “And if you want to talk about legacy, let’s talk about the legacy of mass deportations, of people not voting and (of) Donald Trump.”
Harris recounted the days before and after the 2024 election and spoke candidly about how she dealt with her “traumatic” loss. The discussion included plenty of jabs at Trump, who Harris referred to as a “tyrant,” as well as critiques of the National Guard and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in Chicago. She denounced the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James, rebuking the “weaponization” of the Justice Department.
Harris also discussed policy issues affecting the nation, including the affordability crisis and low voting rates. Later, she highlighted Gen Z as an important voting bloc for the future of the Democratic Party and the country as a whole.
“The thing about Gen Z that I love, among many things, is that they are completely impatient for the rest of us,” Harris said. “They are not waiting for us to lead. They are ready to lead, and we should tap into that energy because they know what’s at stake.”
Tara Behbehani, a freshman at the University of Chicago, was among the young supporters in attendance.
She mentioned that seeing such a significant political figure up close was unlike any other experience, especially since she hadn’t previously been to forums like this.
“It was important to see Kamala Harris because I feel like there was a lot unfinished about her outcome in the election,” Behbehani said. “I thought I was going to get some unspoken secrets, except that obviously didn’t happen. But it was nice to hear the personal and quite human details of her experience.”
Norris read pre-submitted questions for a Q&A session, including one asking Harris if she had any advice for Chicago public school teachers. She urged teachers to remain resilient and encouraged young audience members to consider public education as a profession. Harris then asked public teachers in the audience to stand up, which garnered massive applause.
Harris concluded the event by emphasizing the power of local community. She called on audience members to reject complacency and remain politically active in spite of rising levels of cynicism.
“We’re only nine months into this thing,” Harris said. “Let’s get through this, together.”
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