Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was greeted with chants of “Karen! Karen!” after she described Vice President Kamala Harris as a role model who will fight to protect children on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday.
Bass told the enthusiastic crowd in Chicago that she and Harris worked together to combat youth homelessness and fix the child welfare system more than a decade ago, when Bass was speaker of the California Assembly and Harris was a state attorney general.
“Our bond was forged years ago, over a shared commitment to children,” said Bass, who has known Harris, 59, for nearly two decades. “A belief that it is everyone’s responsibility to care for every child, no matter where they come from or who their parents are.”
Bass, 70, a well-known child advocate who created the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth while in Congress, also used her brief speech Monday to describe Harris’ work as California attorney general to help young people in the juvenile justice system.
“I know Kamala,” Bass said. “And she feels the importance of this work in her bones. When Kamala meets a young person, you can feel her passion. You can feel her heart. And you can feel her courage.”
“That’s what defines commitment to children: being willing to fight fiercely for every child. And believe me, Kamala has done that her entire life.”
Bass smiled at the crowd and seemed to enjoy her moment in the spotlight. She chuckled as she talked about how she and Harris made history and when Harris, the first female vice president, swore her in after Bass became the first woman to become mayor of Los Angeles in 2022.
Before the swearing-in, “we knew we were sending a message to young women around the world: that they, too, can lead,” Bass said.
Additionally, Harris and Bass have spoken to reporters about their respective families. Harris is a stepmother and refers to herself as “Momala,” while Bass has three adult stepchildren.
Other Californians who spoke during the convention's opening night included U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Reps. Maxine Waters and Robert Garcia, and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
Before Harris was chosen as then-candidate Joe Biden's running mate in 2020, Bass was also considered a possible candidate. But some assumed Harris' political advisers were behind an apparent attempt to remove Bass from the list of potential candidates.
Still, the buzz surrounding Bass's vice presidential bid brought her national attention. A year later, Bass launched her campaign for mayor of Los Angeles.
