OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A video making the rounds on the Internet show Vice President Kamala Harris delivering a scripted message to her supporters no matter where she is.
The vice president and her choice for running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have been on a barn burner tour of swing states to promote their campaign, and while the states may change, the message does not.
“The media is treating Kamala like she’s vulnerable and needs protection because she does. She’s on a tight leash; they made her read the same speech twice in a row,” Fox News host Jesse Watters said before cutting to a video montage of the vice president giving what was for all intents and purposes the same speech in two states close to verbatim:
HARRIS (in Wisconsin): It’s so good to be back in Wisconsin.
HARRIS (in Michigan): It’s so good to be back in Michigan.
HARRIS (in Wisconsin): And listen, I am clear: the path to the White House runs right through this state.
HARRIS (in Michigan): And listen, I am clear: the path to the White House runs right through this state.
HARRIS (in Wisconsin): I took on perpetrators of all kinds.
HARRIS (in Michigan): I took on perpetrators of all kinds.
HARRIS (in Wisconsin): And had a summer job at McDonalds.
HARRIS (in Michigan): I had a summer job at McDonalds.
HARRIS (in Wisconsin): So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.
HARRIS (in Michigan): So hear me Detroit when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.
HARRIS (in Wisconsin): And are we ready to fight to fight for it?! And when we fight, we win!
HARRIS (in Michigan): And are we ready to fight to fight for it?! And when we fight, we win!
🚨Wow. Kamala Harris is a robot who is incapable of speaking off script. pic.twitter.com/Uogrxze1UK
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) August 9, 2024
Reciting the same lines repeatedly is not new territory for the robotic vice president. Many people have mocked her for her “unburdened by what has been” speech, which she has given countless times.
At a campaign event, before she was at the top of the ticket, on July 11 at James B. Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina she used the phrase most recently.
“They taught us that we could do anything and should never be burdened by the limitations of other people to be able or not be able to see what can be. And this is that community who understands and can see what is possible, unburdened by what has been,” she said.
On June 29, at another campaign stop in Los Angeles, California, she said, “We love our country. We believe in the promise of America. As much as anything, the fight before us is for the promise of America. I am empirical evidence of the promise of America, okay? We know what can happen and what is possible when we collectively have the ability to see what can be unburdened by what has been.”
On March 11 at the Fairmont San Francisco Hotel in San Francisco, California she was similarly unburdened.
“And I said, then — and I didn’t have to do it again this year because it became clear. And I said, then: No, our commitment is about investing in our workforce, investing in innovation, investing in the businesses that will do this work, understanding and knowing and intending that it will benefit the entire world, both because of what you are modeling in terms of how these businesses work and can create opportunity and innovate and imagine what can be unburdened by what has been, but also what we are doing in terms of a commitment to innovation that we are then sharing with the world in a way that they can replicate and use to then build on that to create the next thing,” she said.
A Google search of the phrase “unburdened by what has been” on the White House’s official government website shows six pages of results of the vice president using the exact phrase.
