Kamala Harris is mocked for claiming rural residents can’t get photocopies of their IDs

Vice President Kamala Harris is facing criticism after suggesting that people who live in rural areas aren’t able to make photocopies because they don’t have a Kinkos or OfficeMax nearby.

Harris made the remarks in an interview with BET News on Friday, arguing against voter ID laws, including those in some states that require a photocopy of ID to vote by mail.

‘I don’t think that we should underestimate what that [compromise on voter ID laws] could mean,’ Harris said. 

‘Because in some people’s mind, that means you’re going to have to Xerox or photocopy your ID to send it in to prove who you are. Well, there are a whole lot of people, especially people who live in rural communities, who don’t – there’s no Kinkos, there’s no OfficeMax near them,’ she added.

‘Of course people have to prove who they are,’ Harris said, but ‘not in a way that makes it almost impossible for them to prove who they are.’

The remarks drew mockery from some on Twitter, who said that they were able to make photocopies despite living in rural areas. 

‘I live on top of a mountain on the WV/VA border and I can photocopy my ID. I mean I do it while moonshining White Lightning while dueling banjos play in the background but I can still do it,’ one person tweeted.

‘I grew up in a rural community without an OfficeMax or a Kinkos and I managed to successfully make photocopies of things on many occasions,’ another wrote.

Another critic called the claim ‘insulting and untrue’ and added, ‘Bottom line: Kamala, you need to start forgetting all about 2024 before the Democrats do it for you.’

Others pointed out that the Kinkos brand has not existed for 17 years, since the chain merged with FedEx.

Harris’ remarks come as Congress fiercely debates a proposal to pass a sweeping Democratic bill on elections, which would create universal mail-in voting and same-day registration in every state, among many other changes.

Congressional Democrats are facing renewed pressure to pass their bill after a Supreme Court ruling Thursday made it harder to challenge Republican states that pass election security laws that make it harder to vote. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the ruling an ‘unprecedented assault’ that ‘greenlights the brutal, accelerating campaign of voter suppression.’

Speaking in Florida, President Joe Biden said he would have ‘much more to say’ soon, but largely sidestepped comment.

For their part, Republicans show no sign of willingness to engage with Democrats on the issue.

‘The states created the federal government, and it´s not up to Chuck or Nancy or anyone else in Washington, D.C., to tell Arizona or anyone else how they should conduct an election,’ Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who was a party in the case, said on Fox News.