Vice President Harris says ‘everybody needs to be woke’ in 2017 clip
Hold onto your hats, folks! A blast from the past has just resurfaced and it’s setting social media ablaze. A 2017 clip of Vice President Kamala Harris is making rounds, where she asserts that ‘everybody needs to be woke.’ And if you think this has folks chattering, you’d be absolutely right!
Imagine this: it’s 2017, the Trump administration is in full swing, and during Recode’s annual Code Conference, then-Senator Kamala Harris boldly proclaims, ‘We have to stay woke. Like everybody needs to be woke. And you can talk about if you’re the wokest or woker, but just stay more woke than less woke.’ Sounds like the kind of message that would keep you up at night, right? Well, here we are in 2024, and it’s having quite the encore.
The clip was not just any offhand comment. Harris was speaking alongside Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, discussing hot topics like immigration, the environment, and the then-current Trump administration’s policies. Harris passionately outlined her frustrations, particularly with how the administration was handling refugees and marijuana. Yes, grandma’s medical marijuana was right there in the mix!
‘I get upset when we say we’re going to shut our door to refugees who are fleeing such atrocities and have been standing in line for two years to qualify for refugee status, and they arrive here, and we turn them away. Yes, I’m gonna get mad about that. I’m gonna get mad when we have an attorney general who’s trying to resuscitate the war on drugs. And he thinks the greatest evil that mankind has ever seen is marijuana. … Leave grandma’s medical marijuana alone,’ Harris emotionally declared.
Daring or divisive? Wilson-jerking or wisdom-packed? Opinions flew, of course. Seven years later, voices from both sides of the aisle are belting out their takes. Critics didn’t miss a beat in reminding everyone that Harris had referred to ‘Defund the Police’ back in 2020 or had even praised a pastor who controversially blamed the U.S. for the 9/11 attacks. Conservative author James Lindsay took to social media describing Harris as a ‘Communist functionary.’ Talk about never letting go!
Fast forward to today, and President Biden has bowed out of the 2024 race, handing over the torch—or perhaps the hot potato—to Harris. Now, as she clinches the Democratic nomination and gears up for the face-off against Donald Trump, every whisper, every shout from her past is getting amplified again. Even snippets like her gentle assertion, ‘We have to stay active. We have to stay woke,’ are back in the spotlight.
With fewer than 100 days left till the big election day, the pressure cooker is on. Harris has yet to announce her running mate officially, though the rumor mill is working overtime. Next up on her packed schedule? A trip to Chicago for the much-anticipated Democratic National Convention. Strap in, folks, because this political roller-coaster is far from over.
Before you dash off to find more behind-the-scenes political drama, here’s a nugget of unsolicited advice: staying woke might just mean staying curious, informed, and outrageously entertained by the never-ending show of politics. Whether you’re a fan, a critic, or somewhere in between, in the wise words of Vice President Harris, let’s just ‘stay more woke than less woke.’
