Kamala Harris claims Republican policies mean gay teachers can't put up family photos and attacks GOP for wanting to 'ban books' instead of assault weapons

Vice President Kamala Harris claimed Thursday that Republican policies mean that cheery teachers can't put up family photos and blasted nan GOP for wanting to 'ban books' while Democrats want to prohibition battle weapons. 

Harris keynoted the American Federation of Teachers Convention successful Houston, Texas Thursday morning, lauding nan group for being nan first national to endorse her statesmanlike bid this week connected nan heels of President Joe Biden bowing out. 

She riled up nan crowd by slamming GOP positions - attacking 'don't opportunity gay' laws, Republicans' push against 'critical title theory' and nan opposition's views connected really to curtail schoolhouse shootings. 

'And while you thatch students astir our nation's past, these extremists onslaught nan state to study and admit our nation's existent and afloat history, including book bans successful nan twelvemonth of our Lord 2024,' Harris said. 'We want to prohibition battle weapons and they want to prohibition books.' 

The apt Democratic statesmanlike nominee besides deed Republican 'extremists' for attacking nan 'freedom to love.' 

'They passed alleged "don't opportunity gay" laws,' Harris noted. 

The vice president recalled really she was 1 of nan first nationalist officials, backmost successful 2004 while serving arsenic San Francisco's territory attorney, to execute same-sex weddings.

'So here's nan thing, it pains maine so, to deliberation 20 years later that location are immoderate young teachers successful their 20s who are acrophobic to put up a photograph of themselves and their partner for fearfulness they could suffer their job,' she said. 

'And what is their job? The astir noble of activity - school different people's children,' she continued. 

'And God knows we don't salary you capable arsenic it is,' nan vice president added.  

Former President Donald Trump's grounded 2024 rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, signed his into rule nan alleged 'don't opportunity gay' bill, which bars 'classroom chat astir intersexual predisposition aliases gender identity.'

More broadly, Harris took connected nan Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, which lists a number of far-right proposals that nan deliberation vessel hopes nan Trump management will instrumentality should nan Republican beryllium victorious successful nan fall. 

'Randi, tin you judge they put that point successful writing?' Harris asked AFT President Randi Weingarten, 1 of nan women who introduced her Thursday. 

'So Project 2025 is simply a scheme to return America to a acheronian past,' nan VP said. 'Donald Trump and his utmost friends want to return our federation backmost to grounded trickle down economical policies, backmost to national busting, backmost to taxation breaks for billionaires.' 

The assemblage booed each clip she ticked disconnected a database item.  

'Donald Trump and his friends want to trim Medicare and Social Security, to extremity student indebtedness forgiveness for teachers and different nationalist servants, and I opportunity to AFT, they moreover want to destruct nan Department of Education,' she said. 

That sewage a large boo. 

'And extremity Head Start, which, aliases people would return distant pre-school from hundreds of thousands of our children,' Harris added. 

The Republican National Committee reacted to Harris' reside by calling her 'dangerously liberal.' 

Harris has had a whirlwind 4 days aft President Joe Biden announced Sunday he was exiting nan 2024 statesmanlike race, endorsing his vice president successful nan process. 

On Monday, Harris visited nan Wilmington, Delaware run office she was inheriting from Biden. 

She stepped retired connected nan run way Tuesday successful Milwaukee, wherever Republicans had concluded their nationalist normal past week. 

Harris appeared earlier nan historically achromatic Zeta Phi Beta sorority successful Indiana Wednesday earlier heading to Houston, wherever she made a astonishment extremity astatine nan city's emergency consequence office earlier tuning into Biden's Oval Office address.

The vice president will alert backmost to D.C. for a gathering pinch Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Thursday afternoon. 

She riled up pro-Palestinian protesters earlier Thursday by issuing a connection condemning 'pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric' that was utilized during Wednesday's protests of Netanyahu's Congressional address. 

American flags and a Netanyahu effigy were burned extracurricular of D.C.'s Union Station, pinch nan fountain inked pinch nan words, 'Hamas is coming.'