Who is Wanda, the friend Kamala Harris mentioned during her DNC acceptance speech?
During her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris recounted a story from her upbringing that inspired her early career as a prosecutor.
Harris said she started to notice her best friend Wanda was acting off in high school. When Harris asked about it, Wanda said she was being sexually abused by her stepfather, and Harris insisted her friend come stay with her family, she recounted on the stage in Chicago Thursday night.
"This is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor: to protect people like Wanda, because I believe everyone has a right to safety, to dignity and to justice," Harris said on the DNC stage Thursday night.
That friend Wanda Kagan attended parts of the convention, posting on X, "Words can't fully capture the emotions I've felt throughout this incredible experience and journey at the DN witnessing history with my friend!"
Democratic convention replay: Kamala Harris accepts Democratic presidential nomination
Kamala Harris' friend Wanda speaks on historic nomination, reports
Speaking to MSNBC at the convention, she reacted to a campaign video of Harris sharing the story.
"It's very emotional when I hear it, every time I hear it, it brings me back to that time that she rescued me," Kagan said, adding that Harris also encouraged her to move forward with her education. "She has those protective instincts. She’s going to do something and fight for the people of America."
Kagan said Harris was always empathetic and supportive, as people may be able to see now, CBS reported.
"She's not someone who just says something, she does something," Kagan said to CBS News.
Kagan also said she couldn't expect her best friend would be the presidential nominee, but she isn't surprised.
Kamala Harris: 'The future is always worth fighting for'
Harris formally accepted the Democratic nomination for president Wednesday, saying she will be president for all Americans.
Harris' speech was starkly different than the acceptance speech her opponent Donald Trump delivered a month prior at the Republican National Convention. She called Trump an "unserious man," but warned that the consequences of another Trump administration would be "extremely serious." She evoked conservative agenda Project 2025, from which Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself.
Harris spoke of her working class upbringing and her early career as a prosecutor, pleading with Americans to allow her to fight for them as she did for the people of California.
"These fights were not easy, and neither were the elections that put me in those offices," Harris said. "We were underestimated at practically every turn, but we never gave up, because the future is always worth fighting for."