Leavitt: “We Encourage Kamala to Keep Speaking”; Miller: “Only Thing Americans Want Is an Apology”; Schumer Kills SAVE Act

Three political moments collided in May 2025. Press Secretary Leavitt delivered a one-liner about Kamala Harris’s return to public life: “I think I speak for everyone at the White House — we encourage Kamala Harris to continue going out and doing speaking engagements.” Harris’s speech went viral for the wrong reasons when she digressed to discuss a San Diego Zoo elephant video: “Google it if you’ve not seen it. That scene has been on my mind.” Stephen Miller responded: “The only thing Americans want to hear from Kamala Harris is an apology for joining Joe Biden in aiding and abetting the invasion of our country. What they did is unforgivable — an eternal stain on the Democrat Party.” Meanwhile, Sen. Schumer announced the SAVE Act requiring proof of citizenship to vote was “dead on arrival,” calling it “Jim Crow."

"We Encourage Kamala Harris”

Leavitt’s briefing-ending quip became an instant political meme.

“Just to add on the Kamala Harris point,” Leavitt said as she wrapped up the briefing. “I think I speak for everyone at the White House. We encourage Kamala Harris to continue going out and speaking, do speaking engagements.”

The line was delivered with perfect deadpan, and its meaning was clear: the White House viewed Harris’s public appearances as beneficial to the Republican cause. Every time Harris spoke publicly, she reminded voters why they had chosen Trump. The encouragement was not supportive — it was strategic mockery.

Harris had reemerged from post-election silence with a series of paid speaking engagements that were intended to position her as the leader of the Democratic opposition. Instead, the appearances had generated viral clips of rambling, unfocused remarks that reinforced the impression of a politician who communicated in word salads rather than coherent arguments.

The Elephant Video

Harris’s speech provided the specific material that justified Leavitt’s encouragement.

“In fact, please allow me, friends, to digress for a moment,” Harris said during her speaking engagement. “It’s kind of dark in here, but I’m asking a show of hands. Who saw that video from a couple of weeks ago? The one of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo during the earthquake?”

She encouraged the audience: “Google it if you’ve not seen it.”

She revealed what had been occupying her thoughts: “So that scene has been on my mind. Everybody’s asking me what you’ve been thinking about these days.”

The moment crystallized the criticism of Harris that had defined her political career. At a time when the country was engaged in tariff negotiations with China, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, nuclear discussions with Iran, and a massive domestic legislative effort, the former vice president and presidential candidate was publicly reflecting on a zoo video she had seen on the internet.

The disconnect between the gravity of the political moment and the triviality of Harris’s chosen topic was the kind of unforced error that no political opponent could manufacture. Leavitt didn’t need to mock Harris — Harris was providing the material herself.

Miller: “An Eternal Stain”

Stephen Miller responded to Harris’s reemergence with the administration’s standard framing.

“The only thing Americans want to hear from Kamala Harris is an apology,” Miller said. “Remember, she was the border czar.”

He stated the charge: “For joining Joe Biden in aiding and abetting the invasion of our country.”

He committed to persistence: “We’re never going to stop talking about this, because what they did to this country is unforgivable. It is an eternal stain on the Democrat Party.”

He described the ongoing consequences: “Every day we read another story. Every day we arrest another alien they let into this country.”

He criticized the media: “I don’t know what’s broken in the Washington press corps. None of that moves them emotionally. The only thing that gets them exercised is, do we need to have more trials for terrorist supporters? More trials for gangbangers?”

He praised Trump: “This president has literally saved America. I could not be prouder.”

He stated the principle: “We have a leader sitting in office whose first, last, and every thought is the safety, prosperity, security, and sovereignty of the citizens — that’s an important word, people — citizens of this Republic.”

Miller’s “eternal stain” characterization was the administration’s long-term political strategy on immigration. The Biden border crisis — 10.5 million known encounters, 2 million gotaways, 700,000 criminal aliens on American streets — was not an issue that would fade from public memory. Every crime committed by an illegal immigrant who entered during the Biden years would be attributed to the policies that allowed them in.

Schumer Kills the SAVE Act

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the SAVE Act — requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote — was dead.

“On the one side, Donald Trump recently issued an executive order that will coerce states to prevent millions of Americans from voting,” Schumer said. “On the other, Republicans in Congress are pushing the SAVE Act — one of the most destructive, dangerous voter suppression bills in recent memory.”

He made the comparison: “It is very reminiscent of Jim Crow. That’s what Republicans want to do. They want to restore Jim Crow.”

He stated his position: “Let me be clear. I will not let this noxious bill, the SAVE Act, become law. Every Senate Democrat, every single one of us, is united against it.”

He cited the procedural reality: “They need 60 votes. The SAVE Act is dead on arrival.”

Schumer’s characterization of voter ID as “Jim Crow” was the standard Democratic argument against any measure that required proof of identity or citizenship to vote. The comparison to Jim Crow-era laws — which used poll taxes, literacy tests, and violence to prevent Black Americans from voting — was incendiary but factually disconnected. The SAVE Act simply required voters to prove they were citizens — a requirement that applied equally to all races and that polls showed was supported by large majorities of every demographic group, including Black Americans.

The political calculus behind Schumer’s opposition was transparent. If non-citizens were voting in American elections — even in small numbers — those votes overwhelmingly favored Democrats. Requiring proof of citizenship would eliminate those votes. Schumer’s opposition to the SAVE Act was functionally opposition to ensuring that only citizens voted in American elections.

Key Takeaways

• Leavitt on Harris’s return: “We encourage Kamala Harris to continue doing speaking engagements” — strategic mockery as Harris’s speeches went viral for incoherence.
• Harris digressed to discuss a San Diego Zoo earthquake elephant video: “Google it. That scene has been on my mind.”
• Miller: “The only thing Americans want from Kamala Harris is an apology for aiding the invasion of our country. An eternal stain on the Democrat Party.”
• Schumer killed the SAVE Act (proof of citizenship to vote): “Jim Crow. Dead on arrival. Every Senate Democrat is united against it.”
• Miller praised Trump: “A leader whose first, last, and every thought is the safety, prosperity, and sovereignty of citizens.”