President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris used Martin Luther King Jr. Day to bash Republicans and sell their stalled voting rights bill.
Harris labeled the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a “prophet” on Monday during a virtual address.
“As has been said, as it is known throughout the world, Dr. King was a prophet,” Harris said while addressing Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. “He was a prophet in that he saw the present exactly as it was and the future as it could be, and he pushed our nation toward that future.”
Despite the maligning attacks against his character and the threats against his family, the civil rights leader pushed on, Harris said.
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“He pushed for racial justice, for economic justice, and for the freedom that unlocks all others the freedom to vote,” she said.
Turning away from the events of King’s life, Harris began telling the audience how the freedom to vote is under “assault.”
“In Georgia and across our nation, anti-voter laws are being passed that could make it more difficult for as many as 55 million Americans to vote,” she said, adding that the proponents of these laws are working to undermine elections and discredit outcomes they don’t favor. “We know the threat we face. We know that this assault on our freedom to vote will be felt by every American in every community in every political party.”
Harris then called on the words of Coretta Scott King, the wife of the civil rights icon, to bolster her argument.
“Freedom is never really won,” Harris quoted. “You earn it and win it in every generation.”
Harris also made a push for the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
“This bill represents the first real opportunity to secure the freedom to vote since the United States Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act nearly a decade ago,” she argued. “To truly honor the legacy of the man we celebrate today, we must continue to fight for the freedom to vote, for freedom for all.”
Biden celebrated the life and work of King with a White House address.
In a similar effort to Harris, Biden used the holiday as an opportunity to pitch voting rights legislation.
“The attack on our democracy is real,” Biden said. “From the Jan. 6 insurrection to the onslaught of Republicans’ anti-voting laws and a number in a number of states, it’s no longer just about who gets to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote.”
Biden said his opponents strive for two “insidious” goals: voter suppression and election subversion.
Biden said King asked the public, “Where do we stand? Whose side are we on?”
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“We’re in another moment right now where the mirror is being held up to America,” Biden said. “The question being asked again: Where do we stand? Whose side are we on?”
