The quote is missing important context. Harris made the facetious remark during a speech about reducing incarceration and recidivism in the criminal justice system. The quote intended to illustrate the point that young adults in that age range are developmentally prone to making "really bad decisions" and the system should take that into account.
Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, a video of Vice President Kamala Harris went viral in which she purportedly called young people "stupid" and said they "make really bad decisions."
A number of posts by Harris critics shared the video over the summer and fall of 2024, describing it as an example of "the real Kamala" and telling young adult viewers, "pay attention to what she says about you."
As we have reported before, while it is true that Harris made the remark — she indeed called 18- to 24-year-old people "stupid" during a 2014 speech when she was attorney general of California — the video of her making the comment lacks important context. Harris was talking about reducing incarceration and recidivism and how the criminal justice system unjustly treats young people in that age range who are prone to making "bad decisions." As such, the quote is correctly attributed, and the video is authentic, though they deserve extra context.
Harris was speaking about Back on Track, a program she began in 2005 as district attorney of San Francisco and was described as a "reentry initiative aimed at reducing recidivism among low-level drug-trafficking defendants." Program participants were young adults aged 18 to 30 years old facing first-time, low-level drug sale charges. The initiative allowed them to have their cases dismissed if they met certain educational and career goals.
Harris' full quote stated (emphasis ours):
So we designed this program around the 18 through 24 [age range] mostly but it was usually up to 30 [years old]. First time, low-level drug sales offender [ …] And here's what we did. We recognized the fact that 18 through 24 — when I was at Howard University and we were in college, we were 18 through 24, and you know what we were called? College kids. But when you turn 18 and you're in the system, you are considered an adult, period. Without any regard to the fact that, that is the very phase of life in which we have invested billions of dollars in colleges and universities knowing that, that is the prime phase of life during which we mold and shape and direct someone to become a productive adult. What's the other thing we know about this population? And it's a specific phase of life, remember, age is more than a chronological fact. What else do we know about this population of 18 through 24? They are stupid. [Crowd laughs.] That is why we put them in dormitories, and they have a resident assistant. They make really bad decisions. So we focused on that age population.
The full speech can be seen below, uploaded to YouTube by the Ford Foundation, a private charitable foundation. Harris made the in-question statement around the 16:30 mark:
Ultimately, as we have reported before, Harris was calling young people "stupid" as part of a larger point about treating them with empathy since they are prone to making poor life decisions. As such, she was advocating for leniency in the criminal justice system to help young people facing low-level drug charges avoid committing further offenses.
Snopes' archives contributed to this report.