Kamala Harris tells sorority 'we aren't playing around' as she skips Netanyahu's address to Congress: VP previews Biden's speech while facing fury for snub

Vice President Kamala Harris ramped up her campaign rhetoric and went on the attack against Donald Trump speaking in Indiana on Wednesday where she vowed 'we are not playing around.' 

The vice president’s visit to Indianapolis was her second stop on the road since locking in enough delegates to become the Democratic presidential nominee within two days President Biden dropping out of the 2024 race on Sunday.

But it comes amid criticism from Republicans back in Washington who accuse her of skipping out on presiding over a joint session of Congress where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to deliver remarks.

Harris gave the speech at the historically black Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.’s Grand Boulé. Zeta Phi Beta is part of the collection of nine historically black fraternities and sororities known as the 'Divine Nine' of which Harris' sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha is also a member.

Her appearance at the event was scheduled before Biden's exit from the race, but the vice president used the visit to rally support for her presidential campaign from sorority members and go after Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.'s Grand Boulé where she rallied members ahead of the 2024 election and went after Donald Trump

‘You know when he was president, Donald Trump, the former president handpicked three members of the United states Supreme Court because he intended for them to overturn Roe v Wade,’ Harris said.

‘And as he intended that, they did,’ she continued. ‘Well let me tell you something, when I am President of the United States, and when Congress pass a law to restore those freedoms, I will sign it into law.’

When she mentioned becoming president, the crowd erupted into cheers. It was the biggest applause line of her remarks.

'We are not playing around,' Harris responded to laughs as the applause subsided. 

‘In this moment, our nation needs your leadership once again,’ she told attendees. ‘In this moment, I believe we face a choice between two different visions for our nation, one focused on the future, the other focused on the past.’ 

Harris also hit on the conservative Project 2025, which Democrats have been warning will be implemented if Trump is reelected.

'These extremists want to take us back, but we are not going back,' she said to cheers.

There were six-thousand people in attendance for the luncheon, according to the vice president's office.

Vice President Harris stepping off Air Force Two upon arriving in Indianapolis on July 24

Attendees cheering for Vice President Harris as she delivered a keynote address for Zeta Phi Beta's event. During her visit, the line 'when I am President' was received with thunderous applause

During the stop, Harris also heaped praise on Biden’s leadership and gave a preview of what to expect from his primetime address Wednesday night.

'He will talk about not only the work, the extraordinary work that he has accomplished, but about his work in the next six months,' Harris said.

The president is scheduled to speak to the nation from the Oval Office about his decision to step aside and not seek a second term. 

‘Joe Biden is a leader with bold vision. He cares about the future. He thinks about the future. He has extraordinary determination and profound compassion for the people of our country,’ she said.

Harris visit to the red state comes as close to 100 Democrats are expected to skip Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to Congress on Wednesday amid tensions over the ongoing war with the Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, DC on July 24 ahead of delivering an address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill

A group of Republican senators slammed the vice president at a press conference Wednesday afternoon for missing the joint address. They said the claim of a scheduling conflict was in appropriate. 

But Harris is not the only top Democrat to not be in attendance for the address. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the second most powerful Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois will also be absent. 

The vice president will meet separately with Netanyahu on Thursday, the White House said.