Former Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a meandering answer on the topic of “humility” during a Sunday question-and-answer session at the Australian Real Estate Conference (AREC).
Real estate industry veteran John McGrath, who conducted the interview at the conference, told Harris his impression of her was that she was “humble” and asked for advice on staying grounded for those in his industry. Harris responded that while she does not “aspire to be humble” or “recommend it,” she believes it is a necessary trait.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 09: Kamala Harris speaks onstage during the HumanX AI Conference 2025 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas on March 09, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Big Event Media/Getty Images for HumanX Conference)”I think that one must be humble. But to aspire to be humble would be quite inauthentic … If one understands that, just, I mean, there’s so much that is magnificent and awe-inspiring about this world and its people,” Harris said. “And when you take the moment to just listen to an individual’s story, whether it’s someone you’re sitting next to on the plane or standing in line with at the grocery store, there is so much about this world that we know and we don’t know. And that is very humbling.”
“To realize the dreams that people have, the struggles that they’ve overcome and the magnificence of that. To realize the beauty of the human spirit, that we are by nature, I think, as a species, we don’t give up,” she continued. “Part of the key to our survival is that we are adaptable. But we are also ambitious. I applaud ambition. I applaud ambition. I think it is a good thing to reach, but not without also understanding that in so doing, one must do the hard work. One must understand the context in which they exist. One must be respectful.”
Harris added that perhaps watching the way people occasionally “treated” her mother based on her appearance and accent influenced her own “humility.”
“I grew up in an environment where my — whether it was my mother, who was … like I said, 5 feet tall, a brown woman with an accent — and I would see how she was treated sometimes,” the former vice president said. “And I grew up then seeing, when I would see that — infrequently, though it happened — where there was some assumption that because of her appearance, she was not what she actually was. She was one of the most intelligent people you could meet. I realized how there is a certain level of unfairness in the world in terms of how people determine a hierarchy and then place others in that stratum.”
“And I learned to dislike it immensely. And understand that I think it’s a flaw to exist in a way that one thinks they are superior to another based on some very arcane measure of the work of another,” she continued. “And maybe it is that way of thinking that makes me have a certain level of humility. It is because I see the strength and the value and the magnificence and the majesty of so many, regardless of what they do, where they live and I’m humbled to be among them.”
Upon concluding her word salad, McGrath responded, “Well said,” and she received an extended round of applause.
Political pundits cautioned during Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign that her tendency to speak in word salads could pose a liability. Harris ultimately lost all seven swing states and the national popular vote to President Donald Trump, who gained significant ground with key demographics, including young nonwhite voters.
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