Kamala Harris, the Democratic Junior Senator from California, officially kicked off her campaign for president on Sunday (January 27) before an energetic crowd in her hometown of Oakland.

Harris proclaimed that fundamental American values are under attack during her address to supporters. "We are at an inflection point in the history of our world. We are at an inflection point in the history of our nation. We are here because the American dream and our American democracy are under attack and on the line like never before," she said. "We are here at this moment in time because we must answer a fundamental question: Who are we? Who are we as Americans?"

Kamala Harris also took digs at Donald Trump, whose administration she says has America’s position in the world the weakest ever and are allowing "foreign powers infecting the White House like malware."

Hundreds of people crowded in front of Oakland City Hall shortly before 1 p.m. local time on Sunday. Harris took to the stage with Mary J. Blige’s music playing in the background.

On the subject of Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, Harris called it “a medieval vanity project” and pointed to the atrocities of Trump’s current immigration policy. "When we have children in cages, crying for their mothers and fathers, don't you dare call that border security. That's a human rights abuse," she said.

Kamala Harris announced that she was running for president on “Good Morning America” on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. She was elected to the Senate in 2016 and has escalated her profile quickly in Democratic politics.