Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Republicans' views on gun control and public education at the American Federation of Teachers' 88th National Convention on Thursday in Houston, Texas.
Following the announcement of the campaign, the federation is the first union to endorse Harris for president in the upcoming election.
According to CBS NewsAddressing the campaign trail, the 59-year-old mentioned Project 2025, a think tank linked to Donald Trump. She stressed that this is proof that Republicans are willing to adopt authoritarian policies after coming to power.
“So Project 2025 is a plan to return America to a dark past. Donald Trump and his extremist allies want our country to return to failed trickle-down economic policies, union-busting, and tax breaks for billionaires.”
“Donald Trump and his allies want to cut Medicare and Social Security. They want to end student loan forgiveness for teachers and other public servants. I would like to say they even want to eliminate the Department of Education,” he said.
The Democratic representative also criticized “extremists” and told teachers that they want their students to learn about our nation’s history and also in a safe and welcoming environment, while extremists attack our freedom to live safe from gun violence.
“While you teach students about our nation’s past, these extremists attack the freedom to learn and acknowledge the true and complete history of our nation, including in books,” he said.
“We want to ban assault weapons and they want to ban books,” he added.
