Vice President Kamala Harris was “seriously” blasted online for a repeated, meandering statement at the site of the July 4th parade mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, where the vice president repeated an earlier call for federal gun control legislation.
Harris, 57, spoke in suburban Chicago on Tuesday night after urging Congress to pass a new assault weapons ban while addressing a teachers union meeting earlier in the day. She promised that the suspected shooter, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, 21, would be “brought to justice,” but then “seriously” repeated herself during her remarks.
“And we have to take these things seriously, as seriously as you do — because you were forced to have to take them seriously,” Harris told Highland Park residents.
“The entire nation needs to understand and have a level of empathy to understand that this can happen anywhere, in any peaceful community,” Harris continued. “And we need to stand together and talk about why it needs to stop.”
Harris has been attacked on social media for her “seriously” repeated comments in Highland Park a day after a gunman killed seven people at the Independence Day parade. Getty Images
Chicago Tribune reporter Jake Sheridan posted a video of Harris’ speech on Twitter, along with her repeated quote.
“Did someone write this about her??” read one response.
Another critic said they thought the quote was a “joke”, while a third questioned whether Harris’ comments were the product of “first generation” artificial intelligence software.
“Word salad,” read another Twitter comment. “It means absolutely nothing.”
“On a streak of about nineteen months of never making a single coherent statement as Vice President,” read another tweet. “Almost delightful in its consistency.”
One detractor insisted that Harris might even star in a remake of HBO’s award-winning political satire Veep, sarcastically praising the “cheap production,” authentic film clips and “great dialogue.”
“Does she seriously think we should take what she said seriously?” another social media critic scoffed.
Seven people were shot and killed at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois on Monday. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Online critics attacked Harris for her confused remarks after the mass shooting. AFP via Getty Images
Tuesday wasn’t the first time Harris was accused of inconsistency while trying to make serious statements.
Days before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Harris told reporters in Germany: “I mean, listen, guys, we’re talking about the potential for war in Europe. I mean, let’s really take a moment to understand the meaning of what we’re talking about. More than 70 years have passed. And in those 70 years… there was peace and security. We are talking about the real possibility of war in Europe.
Critics have pointed out that Harris’s definition of “peace and security” ignores the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe during the Cold War, the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Days later, the vice president was criticized for giving an overly simplistic explanation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on a morning radio show after being asked to describe the war “in layman’s terms.”
“So Ukraine is a country in Europe,” she said. “It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine. So, basically, it’s wrong and goes against everything we stand for.
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