Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday claimed that gay teachers are not allowed to publish family photos because of Republican policies and criticized the GOP for “wanting to ban books” while Democrats want to ban assault rifles.
Harris delivered the keynote address at the American Federation of Teachers convention in Houston, Texas, on Thursday morning. She praised the group for becoming the first union to endorse her presidential bid this week after President Joe Biden withdrew.
She angered the crowd by criticizing the Republican Party’s positions, criticizing the “don’t say gay” laws, the Republican push to oppose “critical race theory,” and the opposition’s positions on how to reduce school shootings.
“And while you teach students about our nation’s past, these extremists attack the freedom to learn and acknowledge the true and full history of our nation, including banning books in the year of our Lord 2024,” Harris said. “We want to ban assault weapons, and they want to ban books.”
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also lashed out at Republican “extremists” who attacked the “freedom to love.”
Vice President Kamala Harris stirred up the crowd at the American Federation of Teachers convention in Houston on Thursday
Attendees cheer as Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the 88th National Convention of the American Federation of Teachers
“They passed so-called ‘don’t say gay’ laws,” Harris noted.
The vice president said that in 2004, while still San Francisco’s district attorney, she was one of the first public officials to perform same-sex marriages.
“So it’s so painful to think that 20 years later there are young teachers in their 20s who are afraid to publish a photo of themselves and their partner for fear of losing their jobs,” she said.
“And what is their work? The most noble work: teaching the children of others,” she continued.
“And God knows we’re not paying you enough already,” the vice president added.
Former President Donald Trump’s failed 2024 rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, signed his so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans “classroom discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity.”
More broadly, Harris took on the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which lays out a number of far-right proposals that the think tank hopes the Trump administration will implement if Republicans win in the fall.
“Randi, can you believe they put that in writing?” Harris asked AFT President Randi Weingarten, one of the women who introduced her on Thursday.
“So Project 2025 is a plan to take America back to a dark past,” the VP said. “Donald Trump and his extremist allies want to take our nation back to failed trickle-down economic policies, back to union-busting, back to tax breaks for billionaires.”
The audience cheered every time she checked off an item on her list.
“Donald Trump and his allies want to cut Medicare and Social Security, end student loan forgiveness for teachers and other public employees, and I tell AFT they even want to abolish the Department of Education,” she said.
This resulted in loud boos.
“And end Head Start, because that would deprive hundreds of thousands of our children of an early childhood education,” Harris added.
The Republican National Committee responded to Harris’ speech by calling her “dangerously liberal.”
Harris has been in a stormy mood four days after President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he is withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race, signaling his support for his vice president.
On Monday, Harris visited the campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, which she took over from Biden.
On Tuesday, she hit the campaign trail in Milwaukee, where Republicans concluded their national party convention last week.
Harris appeared in Indiana on Wednesday for the historically black Zeta Phi Beta sorority before heading to Houston, where she made a surprise stop at the city’s emergency management headquarters before attending Biden’s speech in the Oval Office.
The vice president will fly back to Washington DC later Thursday afternoon for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Thursday morning, she angered pro-Palestinian protesters by issuing a statement condemning the “pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric” used during protests against Netanyahu’s speech in Congress on Wednesday.
American flags and an image of Netanyahu were burned outside Union Station in Washington DC, and the fountain was decorated with the words: ‘Hamas is coming.’