“Jan 6 reflects the dual nature of democracy– the fragility and strength,” said US Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, while addressing the nation from the Capitol Hill, commemorating the first anniversary of the attack on the building.

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“And the fragility of democracy is this: if we are not vigilant, if we do not defend it, democracy simply will not stand,”she explained. “It will falter and fail.”

The “rule of law,” “the principle that everyone should be treated equally,” and “free and fair elections” are the strengths of American democracy, she argued.

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The riot on Jan. 6, 2021, showed Americans what the country would look like if democracy were to be demolished, according to her.

“What the extremists who roamed these halls targeted was not only the lives of elected leaders. What they sought to degrade and destroy was not only a building, hallowed as it is. What they were assaulting were the institutions, the values, the ideals, that generations of Americans have marched, picketed, and shed blood to establish and defend,” she said Thursday. 

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She added, “What was at stake then and now is the right to have our future decided the way the Constitution prescribes it, by we the people, all the people. We cannot let our future be decided by those bent on silencing our voices, overturning our votes, and pedaling lies and misinformation.”

“If we don’t defend it, democracy wont stand. It will faulter and fail,” she warned the nation.

She ended her speech introducing President Joe Biden to the podium as a public servant.