Connect with us

West

Longtime Kamala Harris mentee, friend tapped to respond to Trump's congressional address

Published

on

Longtime Kamala Harris mentee, friend tapped to respond to Trump's congressional address

A left-wing political party tapped Democratic California Rep. Lateefah Simon, a longtime friend and mentee of former Vice President Kamala Harris, to deliver its response to President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday. 

“I’m honored to speak on behalf of the Working Families Party,” Simon said in a statement last week. “We need a government that is run by and for working people, not billionaires—and that’s what the WFP is fighting for. When I see what’s happening in our country right now, it’s essential that we—as Members of Congress—are showing up for our communities and reminding people that it doesn’t have to be this way.”

The Working Families Party, which is a small left-wing political party, has featured Rep. Ayanna Pressley, former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib to deliver its response to a president’s joint address to Congress in previous years.  

Advertisement

CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS PAC BACKS CANDIDATE WHO SIGNED ‘BLACK NEW DEAL’ DEMANDING REPARATIONS

Lateefah Simon attends the red carpet for the sneak preview screening of “Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth To Power” at Grand Lake Theatre on August 2, 2021, in Oakland, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Simon is a freshman congresswoman representing California who has shared a long friendship with former 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. She spoke to NPR ahead of the November election last year, detailing that she and Harris first met back in the early 2000s when Harris worked in the San Francisco City Attorney’s office.

“I really believed in her. The young women that I worked with believed in her. But never in a million years did I think that I would work for her,” Simon told NPR back in August. 

‘I LOVE YOU’: LONGTIME HARRIS ALLY HAS BEEN FRIENDS WITH CCP GROUP’S TOP EXEC FOR OVER A DECADE

Advertisement

She recounted that Harris had encouraged her to earn a college degree, asked her to join her team when she was San Francisco district attorney, given her career advice, and even officiated at her wedding ceremony. 

Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA) speaks as Congressional Democrats and CFPB workers hold a rally to protest the closing of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the work-from-home order issued by CFPB Director Russell Vought outside its headquarters on February 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for MoveOn) (Getty Images)

Simon recalled that when Harris offered her a job in the DA’s office, she said: “You can either carry this bullhorn on your back for the rest of your life, demanding that elected officials work for you and the young people that you care about, or you can become a part of my team, and we can actually deconstruct some of these inequities.”

Simon went on to cement her status as a social justice advocate in California across the years, including amid the defund-the-police movement of 2020. While serving as board president for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system in 2020, she advocated for “defunding and abolishing” policing standards on public transportation in favor of unarmed ambassadors. 

Fox News Digital also previously reported that Simon has had a more than decade-long friendship with a top executive of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) front group, including heaping praise on the executive on X. 

Advertisement

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, right, with BART board member Lateefah Simon on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Simon won her election to serve as California’s 12th congressional district representative in November, taking the reins from former Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee, and has since been identified as a “rising star” in the Democratic Party by liberal media outlets. 

Harris officiated Simon’s congressional swearing-in ceremony in January, when Simon lauded her “mentor” as a pivotal influence in her career. 

UNEARTHED REPORT REVEALS POWERFUL HARRIS ALLY ‘WILLING TO SHARE’ RESOURCES FROM BLACK BUSINESSES WITH CCP

“I am so honored to have my mentor and former boss, Vice President Kamala Harris,” Simon said on January 7. “Since our time together in the district attorney’s office in San Francisco, the vice president has played an integral role in shaping my public service career, and I have learned so much from her.

Advertisement

“She has also paved the way for women across the nation like me who aspire to serve their country at the highest levels. It was a special moment to stand with her today, look her in the eye and begin my journey as the Congresswoman for California’s 12th District.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the Chairman’s Award onstage during the 56th NAACP Image Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on February 22, 2025, in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET) (Getty Images)

Trump is set to address Congress at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, his first joint address since returning to the Oval Office in January. The speech – which is not officially called a “State of the Union” speech as Trump has not been in office for the last year – comes just days after a fiery meeting between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. 

The Democratic Party will also issue a response speech to Trump, tapping Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin to speak to voters late Tuesday evening after Trump’s speech wraps up. 

Advertisement

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report. 

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Montana

Montana nurse and Guard member earns national Air Force recognition

Published

on

Montana nurse and Guard member earns national Air Force recognition


GREAT FALLS — For Staff Sgt. Brianna St. Lawrence-Brody, service does not only happen in uniform.

Outside the gates of the base, she works at Benefis as a nurse, Great Falls Public Schools as a school nurse, and comes home as a wife and mom of four. For the Montana Air National Guard, she serves as a command post controller with the 120th Airlift Wing in Great Falls.

(WATCH: Montana nurse and Guard member earns national Air Force recognition)

Advertisement

Montana nurse and Guard member earns national Air Force recognition

This year, St. Lawrence-Brody was named the U.S. Air National Guard’s Outstanding Airman of the Year in the Non-Commissioned Officer category.

She said the recognition came as a surprise, especially because her path into the Guard started later than others.

“I joined very late in life,” St. Lawrence-Brody said. “I joined the Guard right before I turned 40. So for me, every opportunity that’s presented, I want to take the bull by the horns and just run with it and do the best of my ability.”

Advertisement

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she joined the Guard after finishing nursing school. She said she went straight from nursing school into helping open a COVID unit, while also working at Benefis.

She said that experience was the start of one journey, but not the whole of what she wanted to accomplish.

St. Lawrence-Brody joined the Guard for the opportunities, the challenge and to help build a future for her four children.

“It’s a little bit of a competition for myself,” she said. “Like, if I can do it, why not try my best to achieve it?”

120th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

Advertisement

As a command post controller, she assists in helping move information during emergencies and major events.

“Outside, obviously, I’m a nurse. Inside the Guard, I have nothing to do with the medical field, which is kind of amazing,” St. Lawrence-Brody said. “It keeps me on my toes.”

She explained balancing the Guard, two civilian jobs and four children takes support from her family, her employers and her unit. She said Benefis and GFPS have been supportive of her military service.

Her nomination included her deployment experience, training work overseas and involvement across the wing. St. Lawrence-Brody said she deployed to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where she worked with an operations center supporting entities connected to Africa.

But, she says this recognition is not the finish line.

Advertisement

“This award, it’s not necessarily a landing pad for me,” St. Lawrence-Brody said. “I want to use it as a springboard.”

brianna award duality.jpg

120th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

St. Lawrence-Brody hopes her story encourages others to keep taking on new opportunities, even when they feel uncertain.

“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable and be okay with doing things afraid,” she said. “I think when you get to be okay with doing things afraid, that’s where you’re going to find the growth.”

She has already won at the Air National Guard level, but she recently traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of the broader Air Force Outstanding Airman of the Year process, which includes nominees from the Guard, Reserve and major commands across the Air Force.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

Nevada

Officials elevate response efforts to combat eastern Nevada wildfires

Published

on

Officials elevate response efforts to combat eastern Nevada wildfires












Advertisement





Officials elevate response efforts to combat eastern Nevada wildfires | Local Nevada | Local























Advertisement





Advertisement