Kamala Harris, Vice President, stated one year later that Jan. 6, 2021, was a riot. She compared it to the dates of the 9/11 and Pearl Harbor attacks. Harris mentioned Jan. 6 in an address he delivered as part of a commemoration for the anniversary of the protest that disrupted the counting of the electoral votes.
Harris was vice president-elect at the time and a sitting senator. She stated Thursday that the rioters of that day wanted to attack “the institutions and the values, the ideals, that generations have marched, picketed and shed blood to create and defend.”
Harris stated that what occurred at the Capitol on that day continued to be a threat to American lives, and that “what was at risk then and now was the right to have the future determined the way the Constitution describes it: By us, the people.”
Harris said that January 6 events reflect both the “fragility and strength” of American democracy. The attack on Capitol Hill and the challenge to the election were ultimately unsuccessful. Harris praised both the Republicans and Democrats who returned to complete the count for the election, thanking them for their “resolution” and “loyalty”.
The vice president asked if Jan. 6, 2021, would someday be considered the beginning of the end for American democracy. She then stressed the importance of Congress passing new voting legislation.