Harris warns of 'profound threat' to American freedoms

Vice President Kamala Harris warned on Monday that American freedom was “deeply threatened” in a speech honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in South Carolina, reinforcing the message that the Biden administration has made a rallying cry of its renewed election bid.

Ms. Harris used her keynote speech at an NAACP event in South Carolina to draw attention to the restrictions that Republican lawmakers and the Supreme Court have placed on civil rights in recent years. She urged the more than 100 people to continue fighting for the constitutional promises Dr. King held America responsible for his entire life.

“If he was here, I think Dr. King would be the first to say, yes, we've come far, and while we've come far, right now it's up to us to continue that fight to collect on that promissory note. she said, referring to his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Ms. Harris criticized “extremists” who have passed laws rolling back voting and reproductive rights, orchestrated book bans and denied parts of the country's black history.

“They insult us in an attempt to deceive us, in an attempt to divide and distract our nation with unnecessary debates,” she said, adding that under attack was “the freedom from fear, violence and harm ; freedom to vote, live, learn, control one's own body; and the freedom to just be.”

She punctuated her speech by illustrating the battles that await future generations.

“This generation has witnessed the highest court in our land, the Thurgood court, take up a constitutional right that had been recognized by the people of America, by the women of America,” Ms. Harris said. “This generation now has fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers.”

The speech was part of a daylong trip to Columbia, the vice president's eighth visit to South Carolina, which revived President Biden's campaign four years ago. Ms. Harris visited Myrtle Beach on Jan. 6, the third anniversary of the deadly attack on the Capitol, and delivered a similar message as she and Mr. Biden, who was in Charleston two days later, tried to rally black voters.

In Columbia, Ms. Harris stopped at a campaign event, where she repeated to her supporters that there was “a direct, deliberate attack on hard-won and hard-won freedoms and rights.”

Ms. Harris also told her supporters that it was South Carolina residents who helped shape some of the administration's most successful policies, such as expanding access to high-speed internet in rural areas, addressing the removal of lead pipes and lowering insulin prices.

She credited those in the crowd with helping her and Mr. Biden to the White House in 2020 by securing historic voter turnout, and urged them to do it again, starting with the Democratic primaries in the state on February 3.

“South Carolina paved the way for Joe Biden to become president of the United States and for me to become the first Black female vice president,” she said.

But supporters were clear that Ms Harris played just as big a role in the victory.

Darrell Jackson, a South Carolina state senator who introduced Ms. Harris at Big T's Bar-B-Que, where the event was held, said he was proud of what the administration had accomplished — and that he had supported Ms. Harris since she made her own bid to become president.

“When she decided to support President Joe Biden, so did we,” he said.