Vice President Kamala Harris made references to both Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech in South Carolina.

Harris drew laughs by wondering aloud, “must I really have to say [the Civil War] was about slavery?” a reference to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley failing to mention slavery when answering a question about the war’s causes. Haley later said she thought it was “a given” that slavery was the cause.

She then took a veiled shot at Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) by saying “they tell our children that enslaved people benefited from slavery,” a reference to a controversy over the curriculum of a high school course on African American history in Florida.

“They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, in an attempt to divide and distract our nation with unnecessary debates,” Harris said.

The vice president drew a parallel between the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and the struggles of today during a speech at the state capitol.

Like in King’s day, Harris said fundamental freedoms are threatened today and called on voters to stand in defense of American principles.

“We celebrate the legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” Harris said. “A visionary, who saw what could be unburdened by what had been. An organizer who moved the minds, the hearts, and the feet of the American people.”

She then pivoted to talking about the “fundamental” promise of America — freedom, and how it is threatened today just as it was in the 1960s.

“Freedom is fundamental to the promise of America,” she said. “Freedom is not to be given. It is not to be bestowed. It is ours by right. And in many ways, the story of America has been a story of our fight, to realize that promise, as Dr. King wrote in the letter from Birmingham jail.”

South Carolina has emerged as a crucial state for Democrats and for the Biden-Harris ticket in particular. Though it has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976, it played a crucial role in getting President Joe Biden the party’s nomination in 2020, and has been rewarded with a spot atop the Democratic nominating calendar this time around.

It was Harris’s eighth trip to South Carolina since taking office and her second this year. She spoke in Myrtle Beach on Jan. 6.

However, she did not mention the state apart from the opening minute or so, focusing instead on the issues of the day. Harris is undertaking another abortion-rights tour that will see her crisscross the United States, a topic she raised forcefully during the Palmetto State speech.

“Today, in states across our nation, extremists propose and pass laws to attack a woman’s freedom to make decisions about her own body,” Harris said to applause. “And let us all agree — one does not have to abandon their faith and deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.”

Other issues she mentioned include gun control, voting rights, climate change, and LGBT issues.

“Every person in our nation has a right to be who they are, and love who they love openly, and with pride,” she said. “And yet, this past year extremists have proposed or passed hundreds of laws targeting LGBTQ people.”

The speech, like many others recently made by both Harris and Biden, was contested by the presence of protesters, with shouts of “ceasefire now” and a bullhorn shouting “from the river to the sea.”

“If he were here, I think Dr. King would be the first to say that, yes, we have come far,” Harris said. “And though we have come far, in this moment, it is up to us to continue that fight, to cash that promissory note.”