Vice President Kamala Harris used a speech Monday on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to chide Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.
"They even try to erase, overlook, and rewrite the ugly parts of our past," Harris said. "For example, the Civil War which, must I really have to say, was about slavery."
Harris' remarks were in reference to comments by Haley, former South Carolina governor, last month in New Hampshire last month where Haley gave an awkward response to a question regarding what started the Civil War.
Democrats and Republican rivals have seized on the remarks as a deal-breaker for Harris, who cited state's rights and the role of government as the causes of the Civil War.
Speaking at the NAACP South Carolina State Conference in Columbia, Harris told the crowd, "All the while, they tell our children that enslaved people benefited from slavery."
Harris' comments were a swipe at Florida's recently revised school curriculum that notes former slaves used the skills they learned as captives to earn a living as skilled tradesmen when they won their freedom. The major point of contention was the use of the word "benefit" in the text in Florida, where DeSantis is governor.
During Monday's speech, Harris spoke often about the "profound threats" in the U.S., referencing voting right and abortion.
"In states across our nation, extremists propose and pass laws to attack a woman's freedom to make decisions about her own body," Harris said. "Today, in effect we are witnessing a full-on attack on hard-won, hard-fought freedoms."
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