'Unburdened by What Has Been': Harris Said It at 55 Events, Official Record Shows (June 23, 2023)

At a state luncheon for India’s prime minister, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about her mother, a scientist. “She understood what was possible, unburdened by what has been,” Harris said [1].

It was her signature line. A HYGO News review of the official record kept by the American Presidency Project found Harris saying “unburdened by what has been” at 55 events from January 2021 to September 2024: 13 in 2021, 16 in 2022, 16 in 2023 and 10 in 2024 [2].

The video above shows the June 23, 2023, luncheon honoring Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Quotes are from the official transcripts.

”This Phrase That I’ve Been Using a Lot”

Harris knew it. In May 2021, at a small-business roundtable in Providence, Rhode Island, she said: “You know, I often — have come up with this phrase that I’ve been using a lot, which is, you know, ‘American aspiration’ — our ability to see what can be, unburdened by what has been” [4].

At the National Prayer Breakfast in February 2022, she said she used it “now and often as I do — so many times” [6]. At an Asian Pacific American awards dinner that May, she called it “what many of you have heard me say all the time” [7]. At a Democratic fundraiser in Los Angeles, it was “as I also like to say” [14].

The first use HYGO News found came six days after she took office, after her second COVID-19 vaccine shot at the National Institutes of Health. She described scientists like her mother: “Their whole reason for being is to see what can be unburdened by what has been” [3].

Everywhere, for Every Audience

The line went from bill signings to commencements to fundraisers:

Oct. 21, 2021, campaign event for Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. “And the beauty of his experience and his character is he sees what can be unburdened by what has been” [18].
Nov. 15, 2021, infrastructure bill signing. “We see what can be, unburdened by what has been” [5].
July 14, 2022, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority convention. The sisters “have always been unburdened by what has been, unburdened by what society may say we can or cannot be” [8].
July 18, 2022, NAACP convention. The group was “driven by the ability to see America as it can be, unburdened by what has been” [19].
March 28, 2023, youth event in Accra, Ghana. “Innovation I believe to be the pursuit of what can be unburdened by what has been” [11].
May 27, 2023, West Point commencement. “You see what can be, unburdened by what has been” [10].
June 21, 2024, UNITE HERE union convention. “It is we who stand together as the collective who have the power and the ability to see what can be, unburdened by what has been” [20].
Sept. 2, 2024, Labor Day campaign event in Pittsburgh, as the Democratic nominee. “We can see what is possible, unburdened by what has been” [21].
Sept. 14, 2024, the last use found, at the Phoenix Awards Dinner. “A future where we can see what is possible unburdened by what has been” [13].

It even turned up in a written tribute. After the death of singer Tina Turner, Harris’s statement said Turner’s life “was a testament to all those who believe in what can be, unburdened by what has been” [9].

Biden Borrowed It

At least once, President Joe Biden used the line himself. At the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards dinner on Oct. 1, 2022, he said the caucus needed “leadership that has the proven ability to see America as it can be, unburdened by what has been” [12].

Defending Biden’s Age

On June 10, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Harris used the line to push back on concerns about President Biden’s age. “It does make me upset and concerned that — you know, when people will criticize our administration, and they’ll talk about things in terms of age, without looking at what — what is the age of — of an individual in terms of their ability to be bold and to be innovative and to see what can be, unburdened by what has been,” she said [15].

Less than six weeks later, Biden dropped out of the race [16].

By the Numbers

55: events where Harris said the line in the official record, 2021 to 2024, by HYGO News’ count [2].
16: uses in 2022, and 16 more in 2023 [2].
6 days: from Harris’s swearing-in to the first use found [3].
1: time Biden used it, by HYGO News’ count [12].
226: electoral votes Harris won in 2024, against 312 for Trump [17].

What Happened Next

Biden stepped aside. On July 21, 2024, Biden announced he would not seek reelection, writing that “it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down” [16].

Harris lost. As the Democratic nominee, Harris and Tim Walz lost to Donald Trump and JD Vance, 312 electoral votes to 226, according to the National Archives [17].

For another line Harris could not stop using, see HYGO News’ page on her Venn diagrams line.