Kamala Harris warns of ‘all-out attack’ on voting rights by Trump and Republicans

Vice president hit Republicans on their efforts to make voting harder

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Women’s Missionary Society retreat of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S., January 6, 2024. ( REUTERS/Randall Hill)

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday warned of an “all-out attack on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights” by Republicans and former president Donald Trump and stressed the importance of Black voters in her and President Joe Biden’s electoral prospects.

Ms Harris, who travelled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to address the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s Seventh District Women’s Missionary Society, recalled how Americans had shown up to vote in the middle of a global pandemic just over three years ago.

“It is because of you that Joe Biden is President of the United States and I am the first black woman to be Vice President of the United States. And so I’m here of course to say thank you for your work and your leadership and your vision for what is possible for our nation,” she said, adding later that it was because of people like those in the crowd of 1,232 who came to see her that she was in a position to address the needs of Black and rural South Carolinians on issues such as maternal mortality and the availability of high-speed broadband internet.

She also hailed the voters who put her and Mr Biden in the White House for giving them the ability to replace lead pipes across the country, safeguarding children’s health and safety, to invest more than $7 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and to appoint more Black women to the federal bench than any previous administration.

“Because of your faith in the promise of America, we together can move our country forward,” she said.

But Ms Harris, who was met with boisterous applause from the crowd as she recalled her and Mr Biden’s successes, warned attendees that their administration’s “fight for progress” is still being challenged by “those who are trying to pull us backward in this moment”.

She cited Republicans’ efforts to restrict voting rights in the wake of her and Mr Biden’s 2020 victory over Mr Trump, often by changing the law to make the process of voting more arduous.

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“They have the gall to pass laws to ban drop boxes, to limit early voting, to make it illegal to offer food and water to people who stand in line for hours simply to exercise their civic duty and right — whatever happened to love thy neighbour?” she asked, adding that the GOP’s “hypocrisy knows no bounds”

Ms Harris rattled off a listed numerous GOP efforts to restrict rights, zeroing in on actions states have taken since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year and laws enacted in states such as Florida to regulate how history is taught in public schools.

“In states across our nation, extremists pass laws that criminalise doctors and punish women who seek basic reproductive health care. We see extremists ban books and attempt to erase, overlook and even rewrite the dark parts of America’s history,” she said. “And all of this … and refuse to pass reasonable gun safety laws, to keep our children and places of worship safe”.

The Vice President asked attendees to imagine the “split screen” between her and Mr Biden, and the Trump-led Republicans who “want to ban books” instead of assault weapons and infringe on other rights.

“They think government should tell a woman what to do with her body, we trust women to know what is in their own best interest, and women trust us to protect their fundamental freedoms. We fight to protect the sacred freedom to vote while they try to silence the voice of the people,” she said.

Ms Harris noted that she was speaking on the three-year anniversary of the day that a riotous mob of Mr Trump’s supporters had stormed the US Capitol to prevent certification of her and Mr Biden’s 2020 election win.

The Vice President asked her audience to remember where they were that day, and reminded them that the mob, acting at the best of the then-sitting president, had “used brutal force and fear to try and overturn the results of a free and fair election” and “overrule the votes of millions of Americans”.

She also warned that Mr Trump and his allies are still trying to whitewash the facts of that day.

“On that day, we saw violence, chaos, and lawlessness. But some so-called leaders still try to mislead and gaslight by claiming it was a peaceful protest — can you imagine — like we weren’t watching!” she said, adding that the same “extremist leaders” — including Mr Trump — now say that the riot, which resulted in the deaths of multiple police officers, was “led by ‘great patriots’”.

She asked: “Is that how you define who loves our country?”

Ms Harris said the events of that day were a reminder that America “still [has] far to go” and Americans “still have work to do,” and asked the missionary society members that American democracy is “only as strong as our willingness to fight for it”.

“In this moment, our nation once again needs your leadership as you have done for generations, to defend our most sacred ideals. To continue to organise, energise and make your voices heard,” she said.

“And at this moment in history I say, Let us not throw up our hands when it’s time to roll up our sleeves because we were born for a time such as this and we love our country, we believe in the principles upon which we were founded and guided by our faith. We are prepared to fight for all that we know is right and hold dear,” she continued. “And I know that when we fight, we win”.