Harris, Booker denounce war, Trump, honor women at Detroit event

DETROIT — A Michigan Democratic Party luncheon honoring women Saturday was marked by vitriol for the man who occupies the Oval Office.

During the Michigan Democratic Party Women's Caucus Legacy Luncheon at Huntington Place in Detroit, one of the keynote speakers, former Vice President Kamala Harris, called President Donald Trump "an insecure man" who launched military strikes in Iran as "his feeble attempt to distract from the Epstein files" — a reference to the late financier and child sex offender Jeffery Epstein.

Trump, who defeated Harris in the 2024 election, has not been tied to criminal wrongdoing involving Epstein, although some people, including Republicans, have criticized how his administration handled the promised release of the files, including delays and heavy redactions.

Harris also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convinced Trump to launch the military action in Iran, a claim Trump has denied. The president said he ordered the strikes to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

"(Trump) entered a war — and he got pulled into it by Bibi Netanyahu, let's be clear about that — that the American people didn't want," Harris said. "Among the many consequences of it is jacking up the price of gas."

As of Saturday, the national average price for gasoline in the U.S. was from $4.06 - $4.13 per gallon, up from $3.17 in April 2025, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration. Under former President Joe Biden and Harris, average gasoline prices spiked at $5.01 per gallon in June 2022.

The action in Iran, Harris said Saturday, "is (Trump's) attempt to walk around, as he is wont to do, this insecure man, to walk around as if he’s strong, and he’ll use the force of America’s military on who he chooses."

After accusing Trump of "trying to pretend that he's some kind of mob boss," Harris affected a "gangster voice" to emulate an imaginary conversation between the President and other world leaders.

"You can take Asia" she said. "I'm gonna take Western Hemisphere, whatever else I want, and we'll just divide it."

Harris, who was more than an hour late for Saturday's event, said the biggest issue affecting American women is the economy.

"All other issues flow through that," she said. "It's really a reciprocal relationship. The ability of a woman to be healthy, the ability of a woman to be safe, is connected with her economic health and well being and independence ... the issue of affordable child care is probably one of the number one issues."

Saturday's other keynote speaker was U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.

During his speech, Booker discussed three people who inspired him: "Miss Jones," an elderly woman he met in Newark, and his grandparents, who moved to Detroit from the south during the Great Depression.

"Miss Jones was the kind of person that many of us know, because we got Miss Joneses on our blocks and in our neighborhoods all over America," Booker said. "They're the kind of people that don't wait for change; they make the change happen. They're the kind of people that make a way out of no way."

The senator said the woman taught him the meaning of hope.

"Hope is a feeling you get; it’s not something that happens when the wind blows the right way," he said. "Hope is the active conviction that despair will never have the last word. ... we are living in a time where there is despair, and fear and hurt. But now more than ever, like Mrs. Jones, we can't wait for other people to bring us hope. We are each other's hope. We are the heroes we're looking for."

Booker said his grandparents, like many African Americans during the Depression, voted for Republicans, although he said they worked to get people to switch parties during former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, which was marked by a series of government programs called the New Deal.

"It's time for a New Deal again, when people can't afford health care ... and child care. The current deal is not working when we're bombing other countries when we don't have the money to feed the poor."

Booker said he wanted Michigan's "hand" to become a "fist."

"In Michigan, we're the hand, right? It's nice to have fingers ... but I don't want the Michigan hand after your convention," Booker said. "I don't want the Michigan hand after your primary. I want the Michigan fist. I want you to punch a hole in the wall of resistance. I want you to grab a sledgehammer and knock some stuff down. I want you to reach out and grab somebody and get them off the couch, and get them in the field. We have points on the board."

Booker's comments sparked a standing ovation from the crowd of about 300.

Harris and Booker were late for the event, and organizers switched the program, passing out awards first.

Longtime Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Debra Thomas received the Eleanor Roosevelt Award. Thomas' career on the bench started in 1995, and she retired last year.

Several speakers praised Thomas for her progressive policies.

"They call her the 'queen of expungement,'" Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist said. "But I want to tell you what I think that means. It takes a special person to focus all of their talent and all of their attention and all of their energy on making sure that people have another chance to be the best version of themselves.

"Judge Thomas is so unique because she believes, understands and sees that every single human being has power, has purpose and has potential, regardless of what they've done, regardless of a mistake they've made, regardless of the worst day of their life," Gilchrist said. "She sees that the better days are yet to come, and all of us need to believe in somebody else in Michigan, in somebody else in our community ... that our best days are ahead of us."

Thomas said she accomplished a lot during her career.

"I campaigned on redemption and second chances, and expungement, and I think I won that campaign" Thomas said. "We talked about the necessity for inclusion and diversity on the highest court in the state of Michigan, and while we were going there, we got it on the U.S. Supreme Court as well. I think I won that campaign."

Many of Saturday's speakers, including Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, criticized President Donald Trump.

"The 2026 election is going to determine that future for generations to come, and we have to step up and stand up to ensure that here in Michigan and everywhere in this country that we are collectively protecting everyone's right to vote," Benson said.

"As secretary of state, I stood up to Donald Trump when he lied about me. I defeated — we defeated —defeated his plan to illegally block the certification of accurate election results together, even when that meant I had to shelter in my home, protecting my son while people with guns protested on my front lawn because of lies they've been fed about our elections," Benson said.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who wasn't scheduled to speak, said she kept her campaign pledges.

"I'm just so proud of our women have come in this state," she said. "I also made a commitment to you all that you made me attorney general, that unlike a couple of members of Congress who just resigned, I wouldn't be sending around pictures of my junk to random staffers. Promises made, promises kept.

"Each every time (Trump) violated federal law and the Constitution, and in doing so, hurt the state of Michigan and the people of the state of Michigan, I've been filing a lawsuit against him," Nessel said.

Three county prosecutors are vying for the state's top law enforcement position. Michigan Democrats are scheduled to elect the party's candidate at Sunday's endorsement convention, with Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit facing Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald.

Last month, Michigan Republican Party delegates endorsed Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd to be the GOP's nominee for attorney general, after 63% of the delegates picked Lloyd over lawyer and political newcomer Kevin Kijewski at Birmingham Novi's Vibe Credit Union Showplace, according to the preliminary results.

McDonald and Savit were embroiled in a controversy earlier this year, when McDonald filed a defamation suit against a political action committee with ties to Savit. The lawsuit claimed the PAC received an influx of money from a political rival to smear McDonald by mischaracterizing a 2023 Detroit News story that printed allegations that McDonald allowed donations to influence her decision to drop charges in a murder case. The defendants later agreed to say the information they'd disseminated was defamatory and pay $7,500 in damages.

Also to be decided at Sunday's convention is the Democratic nominee for secretary of state. Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist faces Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum and Suzanna Shkreli, a former Michigan Lottery commissioner and Macomb County assistant prosecutor.

State Republicans and Democrats are scheduled to select nominees for governor and U.S. senator during the August statewide primary.

Saturdays' luncheon came hours before a separate Legacy Dinner that was organized by the party to honor Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, is expected to speak at the Legacy Dinner.