Kamala says US will lose ‘role model’ status if Congress fails to pass voting rights bill

Harris was tasked with handling the voting rights matter back in the summer and is re-visiting the topic this month in an adminsitrative pivot after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) essentially killed the Build Back Better bill last weekend.

"People around the world watch what we do as America, because we have held ourselves out to be a model of the efficacy, of the ability of a democracy to co-exist within economic strength and power," Harris told Brennan.

Harris further stated in the pre-recorded interview with Brennan, which aired on Sunday: "We have been a role model, saying 'You can see this and aspire to this and reject autocracies and autocratic leadership.' Right now, we're about to take ourselves off the map as a role model if we let people destroy one of the most important pillars of a democracy, which is free and fair elections."

Back in a July, Harris was grilled over the Biden administration's sweeping For the People Act, which Democrats tout as an antidote to election integrity laws to ensure citizens aren't discriminated against in voting practices.

"In the days and weeks ahead, I will engage the American people, and I will work with voting rights organizations, community organizations, and the private sector to help strengthen and uplift efforts on voting rights nationwide. And we will also work with members of Congress to help advance these bills," the vice president said in June, claiming that voting rights were "under assault."