New York Attorney General Letitia James delivered a fiery speech at a civil rights event hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton, sharply criticizing President Donald Trump while invoking religious imagery as she accused him of spreading division and eroding the foundations of democracy.
James, who is currently entangled in multiple legal battles with the president, at one point during her speech to the National Action Network event, took the moment to defend diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives (DEI), painting them as catch-all policies.
“DEI is about paid parental leave. DEI is about disabled children,” she said in an elevated tone. “Let them know that they’re not only coming after us, but they’re coming after all of us.”
“Faith and fear can never share the same space,” she shouted. “I’m covered by the blood, and I’m not afraid of Donald Trump! You can come after me, but no enemy, nothing formed against me will perish!”
She also vowed to continue her legal jihad against the president and his administration.
“It’s that stone of hope that gives me a fire in my belly each and every morning,” James said, invoking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. before taking direct aim at Trump. “It’s that stone of hope that allows me to wake up and to stand to Donald Trump and to say, Donald Trump, I’m not afraid of you.”
She added: “I am not going to disgrace [my ancestors] and disappoint them. I am going to use the law both as a sword and as a shield and challenge Donald Trump… because he represents to me sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
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James’s combative approach to Trump is well-established. She has repeatedly taken legal action against him, personally, and his businesses — and, since his reelection, his administration, targeting everything from executive orders to cuts in Title X funding and NIH research grants, making the president a frequent focus of her office.
Most recently, James filed suit over the administration’s move to halt federal family planning funds, denouncing the decision as “cruel and shameful.” She also joined forces with other Democratic attorneys general to challenge Trump’s efforts to scale back DEI-centered medical research and to overhaul election administration through executive orders—actions she condemned as “unconstitutional” and “dangerous.”
Last year, James secured a civil fraud judgment ordering Trump to pay over $450 million. In April 2024, the then-former president moved quickly to block the state from seizing his assets, posting a $175 million bond through Knight Specialty Insurance Company as he appealed the decision.
In February 2025, now-President Trump was back in the spotlight after revoking the security clearances of several individuals, including James.
That same month, Trump’s newly appointed U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, filed a civil lawsuit targeting prominent New York Democrats—among them James and Governor Kathy Hochul—over the state’s immigration policies. The suit focused on New York’s Green Light Law, which permits undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.
In November after he defeated now-former Vice President Kamala Harris, an attorney for the then-president-elect fired back at James after she appeared to warn she could continue to pursue charges against him.
“So here we are. We’ve studied their platforms. We’ve identified certain possibilities, fact patterns. We’ve created contingency plans. So no matter what the next administration throws at us, we’re ready,” she told reporters.
Those comments did not sit well with Trump lawyer Mike Davis, who — during an appearance on conservative podcaster Bennie Johnson’s show — issued a threat of his own.
“Let me just say this to Big Tish James, the New York Attorney General. I dare you to continue your lawfare against President Trump!” Davis declared. “Listen here, sweetheart, we’re not messing around this time, and we will put your fat a** in prison for conspiracy against rights. I promise you that.”
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