Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to reporters with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and said she is committed to “earning” the support of Black voters, Fox News reports.
During the panel discussion on Sept. 17, also known as National Voter Registration Day, in Philadelphia, one reporter pointed out that a number of young Black men support Donald Trump due to his economic plan. The reporter then asked Harris how she felt about the Black male voter’s viewpoint and how her economic policy may assist in changing it.
She started her response by expressing concern over the narrative of Black men “being in anyone’s pocket.” “Black men are like any other voting group. You’ve gotta earn their vote. So, I’m working to earn the vote, not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black,” Harris said.
“But because of the policies and perspective that I have understands what we must do to recognize the needs of all communities. And I intend to be the president for all people.”
A poll from Reuters found that Black men under 50 strongly support Trump. While 49% of those voters said they supported Harris, 26% of Black men 50 and under said Trump has their vote. However, Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit NAACP branch, thinks the support is somewhat exaggerated. “Black men are not going to vote for Trump in numbers. They just ain’t going to do that. And I’ve heard it,” Anthony said.
“l’ve heard him talking about we got a great increase, the Black men are going to vote for (Trump). That’s why he’s using the gold gym shoes. And I think, and see that’s insulting that you think you can get me by sending me some gold gym shoes, red bottom and a T- shirt with your picture on it behind prison walls.”
Harris’s thoughts on the Black vote are slightly different than when President Joe Biden made seemingly indifferent comments on The Breakfast Club during the 2020 election cycle. “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black,” Biden once said.
Economic development and the Black vote were not the only topics discussed during the panel. Harris spoke about abortion, support for Israel, gun control, and Trump’s continuous rhetoric. The Vice President slammed the remarks from Trump and
his vice presidential running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, who fomented racially charged rhetoric toward the Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, accusing them of eating neighborhood pets. “It’s harmful, and it’s hateful and grounded in some age-old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for,” Harris said.“We’ve got to say that you cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the president of the United States of America, engaging in that hateful rhetoric that, as usual, is designed to divide us as a country.”
After Trump allegedly faced a second assassination attempt, according to the Associated Press, the former President placed the blame on Harris, Biden, and Democratic allies. Harris admitted that she briefly spoke with her political opponent to express gratitude about his safety but said he needs to be very careful with his words and wants voters to know that the four-time indicted businessman “can’t have that microphone again.” “When you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a deep level that your words have meaning,” Harris said, without a mention of Trump’s name.
“Let’s turn the page and chart a new way forward and say you can’t have that microphone again.”
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