ATLANTA — Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris made a stop in Atlanta as part of a nationwide tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities Tuesday.
She was at Morehouse College, where her visit quickly turned into a political rally.
Harris was greeted loudly inside Morehouse’s King Chapel.
What was originally supposed to be a listening session to student questions was at times a pep rally and political rally.
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Starting with Airforce Two’s touchdown in Atlanta, Channel 2′s Richard Elliot had exclusive access to the Vice President’s arrival, right under the wing of the plane.
Harris was welcomed to Atlanta by U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, Congresswoman Nikema Williams and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
Channel 2 Action News was able to be part of the Vice Presidential motorcade as it went north from the Atlanta airport, finally arriving at Morehouse College.
Before going into the King Chapel, Harris greeted students who couldn’t get inside. Those inside the chapel were excited to see the VP. She was greeted by a sea of cellphones trying to take her picture.
The tour Harris is taking is focused on going to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to get input from students and encourage them to get involved in politics.
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“You are not willing to sit passively by, you’re not waiting for others to take control of what needs to be solved. You have stepped up and decided you will be part of making it happen,” Harris told students.
The visit to Morehouse was also a campaign rally of sorts. The Vice President weighed in on abortion rights, climate change, and gun violence. She also insisted that democracy itself was under assault.
Among her commentary was criticism of Georgia’s new voter law, which is now facing a challenge in federal court.
“This is not a time to sit passively by while there is what I believe is a full-on intentional attack against hard-won, hard-fought freedoms,” Harris said.
Before flying back to Washington, Harris made a fundraising stop, then headed back to the airport.
A spokesperson for Governor Brian Kemp released a statement that read,
“The Vice President’s latest false attack on Georgia election law follows in the footsteps of numerous lies and inflammatory comments made by this administration and their Department of Justice with the goal of scoring cheap political points. The truth is that thanks to SB 202 it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat in Georgia.”
Josh McKoon, the chairman of the Georgia GOP, also released a statement on the vice president’s visit on Tuesday night that read,
“Vice President Harris came to Georgia to repeat the disproven lie that common sense laws passed to insure election integrity in our state prevent people from voting, against the overwhelming evidence of historic voter participation in 2022. She did not address at all the crushing blows Georgians are taking from ever higher interest rates, putting cars and homes out of reach for the hard-working people of our state.
Georgia Republicans continue to demand real leadership from Washington on our broken border, stalling economy, and public safety. Predictably, Vice President Harris offered no meaningful solutions. But she did manage to keep the Biden administration’s status quo in fueling the fire of mistruths to ensure that our nation goes down in flames. Georgians deserve better. We all deserve better.”
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