Kamala Harris brings up a Trump indictment during debate opening

(Image credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

published 13 September 2019

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) used her opening statement during Thursday night's Democratic debate to share a direct message to President Trump, because "we all know he's watching."

Harris immediately started dressing Trump down, telling him he's "spent the last two-and-a-half years full-time trying to sow hate and division among us, and that's why we've got nothing done. You have used hate, intimidation, fear, and over 12,000 lies as a way to distract from your failed policies and your broken promises."

She then shifted to the many investigations surrounding Trump, declaring that "the only reason you've not been indicted is because there is a memo in the Department of Justice that says a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime." Trump, she continued, is unable to grasp that "the American people are so much better than this, and we know that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us, regardless of our race, where we live, our party with which we're registered to vote."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox