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- In a historic ceremony, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in on Wednesday by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
- Harris is the first female, Black, and Asian American vice president-elect in United States history. Sotomayor is the first Latina justice to sit on the Supreme Court.
- When asked about being sworn in outside the US Capitol following the deadly siege on the building, Harris said “we cannot yield those who would try and make us afraid of who we are.”
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
In a historic ceremony, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in on Wednesday by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, ABC News first reported.
Harris is the first female, Black, and Asian American vice president-elect in United States history. Sotomayor is the first Latina justice to sit on the Supreme Court.
Harris, who is also Indian American, made history when she and President-elect Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election in the fall. Civil-rights advocates celebrated her win, saying it would positively affect policy in the Biden administration and inspire young Americans of different backgrounds.
“Bringing Black and South Asian representation to the table, her lived experiences as a woman of color and a daughter of immigrants will offer a point of view in the White House the likes of which this country has never seen,” Christian Nunes, the president of the National Organization for Women, told Insider’s Eliza Relman at the time.
A source told ABC the vice president-elect is inspired by Sotomayor. In 2019, Harris praised Sotomayor in a tweet sent during Hispanic Heritage month.
“Judge Sonia Sotomayor has fought for the voices of the people ever since her first case voting against corporations in Citizens United. As a critical voice on the bench, she’s showing all our children what’s possible,” Harris said.
Sotomayor joined the Supreme Court in 2009 after being nominated by former President Barack Obama, who also made history as the country’s first Black president. Sotomayor is the first woman of color and first Hispanic person to sit on the bench.
The swearing in ceremony for Harris is set for Inauguration Day, January 20, when Biden will also be sworn in as America’s 46th president.
Following the violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, security efforts have been heightened for the inauguration.
On Saturday, when asked about being sworn in outside the Capitol, Harris said “we cannot yield those who would try and make us afraid of who we are.”
And in another historic first, Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, will become the nation’s first second gentleman.
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