Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in an interview with the Associated Press on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Jakarta, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)Dita Alangkara/AP
JAKARTA (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris said Wednesday that those responsible for the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the violence that occurred on Capitol Hill must be held accountable, including Donald Trump.
“Let the evidence, the facts, lead the way,” Harris said in an interview with the Associated Press in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she is attending a regional summit.
Federal justice has indicted Trump, the favorite to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, for his efforts to cling to power in 2020. Georgia accuses the former president of plotting to subvert the will of voters who elected Democrat Joe Biden and they denied Trump a second term in the White House.
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“I’ve been a prosecutor for most of my career,” said Harris, a California attorney before her election to the Senate in Washington. “I think people are held accountable under the law. And when they break the law, they should be held accountable for it.”
The White House has been discreet about the criminal charges against Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, to avoid the slightest suspicion of political meddling in the work of prosecutors. But Biden and Harris have spoken out about what they see as a serious danger to American democracy revealed by the aftermath of the 2020 election.
“Democracies are very fragile,” the vice president said in the interview with AP. “Its strength depends on our willingness to fight for it.”
Harris represents the United States at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which she is attending in Biden’s place.
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The president’s absence caused some disappointment, but the White House underlined its commitment to the region, as Harris reiterated during the interview.
“I believe that, as Americans, we have a strong interest in developing and strengthening these relationships, both for our security and for our prosperity, now and in the future,” he said.
Southeast Asia is a crucial arena in the rivalry between the United States and China, especially in the South China Sea, through which a third of global maritime traffic transits.
Beijing recently released a map highlighting its controversial territorial claims to the sea.
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“It is a violation of the law. That’s what I think of that map,” Harris told the AP.
ASEAN has struggled to deal with issues such as the military coup in Myanmar, but Harris said the association remains an “absolutely” critical forum.
“The fact that so many leaders are meeting in one place at the same time to discuss some of the most serious problems facing our world is a sign of the strength of each country’s commitment to the coalition and the potential for collaboration.” said.
Harris sternly referred to reports that Russia is in talks with North Korea to obtain weapons for its invasion of Ukraine, calling the potential alliance “ill-advised.”
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“Russia has paid the price for a strategic failure,” he said. “Her unprovoked aggressive actions of hers in Ukraine have led her to a situation where the halo and myth of the Russian armed forces has been dispelled.”
Harris dismissed concerns about Biden’s age, although at 80 he is considered by many to be too old for office. A recent AP/NORC poll revealed that 77% of Americans and 69% of Democrats consider him too old for a second term.
Harris is his eventual successor to the presidency, and this has focused the spotlight on her serving alongside a president who would be 86 at the end of his eventual second term. Some Republican frontrunners say a vote for Biden will end up being a vote for Harris…and they don’t mean that as praise.
“I see him every day. A good part of the time we spend together is in the Oval Office, where I see how his ability to understand complex problems and unravel them like no other has allowed him to make intelligent and important decisions for the good of the American people, ”she said. “And so I assure you that the American people ultimately want to make sure that their president delivers. And Joe Biden delivers.”
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The idea that she might take the presidential role, according to Harris, is “hypothetical,” but she said she is prepared.
“Joe Biden will be fine, so that will not happen,” he said. “But let’s also understand that every vice president — every vice president — understands that when he is sworn in he has to be very clear about the responsibility that he might have to serve as president.”
“I’m not different,” Harris said.
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Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed to this report from Washington.
2023-09-06 14:23:05
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