Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told a gathering of women of color in Indianapolis on Wednesday that she is fighting for America’s future.

She contrasted her vision with another — one she said is “focused on the past.”

“Across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on assault on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights — the freedom to vote, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom to live without fear of bigotry and hate, the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride, the freedom to learn and acknowledge our true and full history and the freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body,” she said.

Harris delivered her Wednesday remarks during Zeta Phi Beta Sorority’s 2024 Grand Boulé, a six-day conference held at the Indianapolis Convention Center. The event was closed to the public.

Her approximately 15-minute speech received a standing ovation from thousands of women of color. Founded in 1920 on Howard University’s campus, the sorority is one of nine historically Black Greek-letter organizations that make up the National Pan-Hellenic Council, colloquially known as the Divine Nine.

During her speech, Harris touted familiar policy talking points, highlighting the Biden administration’s forgiveness of student debt, cap on insulin prices for seniors and expansion of the child tax credit. She also thanked President Joe Biden for his service to the country.

Harris received Biden’s endorsement after he announced Sunday his decision to exit the race. By Monday, Harris had reportedly earned the support of enough delegates to secure her party’s nomination.

Other prominent Democrats have endorsed Harris in recent days, including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Harris during a Tuesday news conference.

A funding windfall has accompanied Harris’ momentum. Her presidential campaign announced it had raised $81 million within 24 hours of Biden’s decision to exit the race.

Harris held her first rally Tuesday in Wisconsin, a battleground state. There, she said she aimed to unite her party, which for weeks had encouraged Biden to drop out of the race. A former prosecutor in California, she also quipped she knows former President Donald Trump’s “type.”

On Wednesday, Harris attacked the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a proposed transition plan for if Trump wins the presidential election. Trump said in a social media post earlier this month that he knows nothing about Project 2025.

“Can you believe they put that in writing?” Harris asked the crowd.

She claimed Project 2025 was “a plan to return America to a dark past.” She called the crafters of the plan “extremists” and said, “We are not going back.”

If Harris wins her party’s nomination next month, she will take on Trump in the November presidential election.

According to the Indiana Democratic Party, Wednesday marked Harris’ third stop in Indianapolis since 2019. And though her speech excited the Zeta Phi Beta crowd, Harris faces a difficult path to winning the solidly red Hoosier state, where a Democrat hasn’t won a statewide election since 2012.

The Indiana GOP criticized Harris in a Wednesday news release, saying the next four years would be “more radical” than the last if she were elected president.

“Joe Biden tasked Kamala Harris to be our border czar, and it’s been an unmitigated disaster, as every day thousands of illegal immigrants are following through our southern border with an end goal of either taking Hoosier jobs or bringing drugs to our state, and it needs to stop,” U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, the Republican nominee for governor, said in the release.

Contact Jarred Meeks on X @jarredsmeeks or email him at [email protected].

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