BALTIMORE — Vice President Kamala Harris, with her future in public life up in the air and President-elect Donald Trump vowing to soon dismantle much of the work she and President Joe Biden have done, pleaded with a crowd Tuesday of mainly young people in Prince George’s home. County to “stay in the fight.”
In her first extended remarks since her concession speech, Harris spoke positively about the future while pledging to do the same kind of public service and advocacy she asked of others.
“Many people have come to me and told me they feel tired, maybe even resigned. People who have said to me that they are not sure they have the strength, let alone the desire, to stay and fight,” Harris told a few hundred people at Prince George’s Community College. “But let me be very clear: no one can walk away.”
Harris, 60, did not provide specific details about her plans after leaving office in five weeks. A former prosecutor and senator who also served as attorney general of California, she is reportedly considering running for governor in her home state in 2026.
“Take some rest during the holidays. Spend time with the people you love,” she said. “I challenge you to come back ready, ready to chart our path into the future – chin up, shoulders back, forever impatient for change.”
The speech represented a return to a solidly Democratic state that Harris easily won against Trump and did not campaign at any point during her brief run after Biden dropped out in July.
She last appeared in Maryland in June for a pair of speeches — one to boost Democrat Angela Alsobrooks’ campaign for U.S. Senate and talk about gun violence prevention, and another to mark the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that Roe v. Waden.
Alsobrooks has also kept a low profile since the election, but appeared at Tuesday’s event — in her home country where she stepped down as top elected leader this month — to support Harris, her longtime friend and mentor.
Alsobrooks spoke broadly about her “deep sense of optimism” among young leaders in the face of challenges and her close relationship with the outgoing vice president, even during the heat of this year’s campaigns.
“I can’t tell you how many times I got a text or a phone call saying, ‘Go ahead.’ You keep fighting. You keep working. You can do this,” said Alsobrooks, who defeated Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan in the election and will enter the Senate on Jan. 3.
While Maryland was one of Harris’s best-performing states — a Democratic stronghold that hasn’t voted for a Republican in more than three decades — she also lost some ground compared to Biden four years ago.
She received more than 30,000 fewer votes in Prince George’s County and neighboring Montgomery County, which together account for 40% of all Democratic voters in the state, than Biden. Trump received a few thousand votes in those and other areas, while winning only 34% of the vote statewide, compared to Harris’ 62.6%.
Trump’s improvements at the margins were mirrored nationally, as he performed better among most types of voters. When he returns to the White House on January 20, he will do so with a Republican-controlled Congress and plans to immediately tackle a wide range of issues – including limiting illegal immigration, cutting taxes and tariffs on foreign goods.
Gov. Wes Moore only briefly hinted at the potential challenges ahead for Maryland in a speech at the event with Harris. The governor traveled thousands of miles back and forth between swing states to campaign for Harris.
Since the election, he has said his administration will strive to work with Trump and push back when necessary. There is a lot at stake for the state, including billions of dollars in federal funding and approximately 160,000 federal jobs. Moore’s preparations include contracting with a major consulting firm to analyze the potential impact.
However, his remarks to Harris largely focused on the theme of the day, which was encouraging more young people to participate in public service – a familiar message and priority since his own election.
“At a time when everything feels very uncertain, you give us certainty,” Moore told the group. “In a time when everything feels dark, you give us light. At a time when everything feels shaky, you provide stability.”
Among the crowd Tuesday were participants in Moore’s flagship service year program, a yearlong paid job initiative primarily for recent high school graduates. In the second year of the program, more than 600 will work for nonprofits, for-profit companies or government agencies.
While cheering for Harris, Moore and others in the crowd Tuesday, many wore matching red draft year shirts or other black shirts that read “Maryland Tough, Maryland Serves,” which Moore’s team introduced in a nod to the “Maryland Tough, Baltimore Strong ” merchandise she began wearing in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in March.
Students and other guests joined the soldiers in cheering for Harris.
In one moment of levity, the murmurs among the crowd erupted into laughter and applause as Harris gave a nod to one of her own viral moments during the campaign.
“I ask you to remember the context in which you exist,” she said, pausing before breaking into a big smile and nodding as attendees recognized a favorite Harris speech line that became something of a meme. “Yes, I did.”
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