California senator Kamala Harris has formally kicked off her campaign for the White House, presenting herself as the leader who can best unite America.
"We are here because the American dream and our American democracy are under attack and on the line like never before," Harris said.
"And we are here at this moment in time because we must answer a fundamental question: Who are we? Who are we as Americans? So, let's answer that question to the world and each other right here and right now. America, we are better than this."
Harris spoke in Oakland, her hometown and where she served as a prosecutor before becoming California's attorney-general.
Harris invoked the speech that Robert Kennedy gave in 1968 when he announced that he was running for president, noting that Kennedy said "at stake is not simply the leadership of our party and even our country, it is our right to moral leadership of this planet."
Harris added, "So today I say to you, my friends: these are not ordinary times, and this will not be an ordinary election, but this is our America."
She said she is running "with faith in God, with fidelity to country, and with the fighting spirit I got from my mother."
Michael Ahrens, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, called it "fitting" that Harris chose "the most liberal district in deep-blue California to launch her campaign."
Harris did not shy away from taking on President Donald Trump directly, saying the US welcomes refugees and calling the wall that Trump wants to build at the southern border a "medieval vanity project."
