Harris was the highly anticipated speaker at a gala for women’s leadership group Emerge, located at downtown San Francisco’s Palace Hotel, and the event nearly coincided with the 100-day mark since Trump took office. She last addressed the public in her concession speech on November 6 at Howard University.

But Trump’s critics are many in deep-blue California, which is so far suing the federal government at nearly twice the clip of the Republican’s first term. More than the substance of her speech, Harris’ high-profile appearance landed her back in the spotlight and continued to feed speculation about her political future.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris made her highly anticipated return to the public stage Wednesday in San Francisco, delivering her first major speech since losing the 2024 presidential election to President Trump in the city where her political rise began.