By Louis Chan, AsAmNews National Correspondent
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the nation this morning on the first anniversary of the January 6 Capitol insurrection and said the day will go down in history with December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001.
“What they sought to degrade and destroy was not only a building. What they were assaulting were the institutions, the values, the ideals that generations of Americans have marched, picketed, and shed blood to establish and defend,” Harris said, the first Asian American and Black Vice President in the history of the United States.
She recalled how her staff and other members of Congress were forced to overturn their cabinets and use them as barricades as they hid in their offices.
She said January 6 will go down in history as the day “when our Democracy came under attack.”
Harris accused those who participated in the riot attempted to “silence our voices, overturn our votes, peddling lies and misinformation by radical factions.”
“If the forces they seek are successful, the lawlessness, the violence, and chaos- what was at stake now was the right to have our future decided by the way the constitution prescribes-by the people.”
It was the Vice President’s biggest speech on the biggest stage since she took office. It comes at a time some of her allies have accused the president of pushing her into the background. It comes at a time Harris’ leadership has come under question and there have been whispers about her leadership style and some of the turnover in her own staff.
One issue the Vice President has been charged with leading is the passage of the voting rights now before Congress. She said what happened on January 6 is proof positive of why strengthening voting rights is so essential.
“The American spirit is being tested. The answer of whether we meet that test resides with you the people. Here in this very building, a decision will be made about whether we uphold the right to vote,” she said from the Capitol.
“We must pass the voting rights act. We cannot sit on the sidelines. We must unite in defense of our Democracy in order to form a more perfect union,” she said.
Harris then introduced President Biden who placed the blame for January 6 on former President Donald Trump and the supporters who fear his wrath.
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Yeah, just use this event to cover up your abysmal approval ratings.