Kamala Harris gave a moving and powerful response when asked about Trump and Vance’s racist lies about Springfield, Ohio.
Video of VP Harris:
Kamala Harris called Trump and Vance’s lies about Springfield, Ohio a “deplorable disgrace.” Below is her full, powerful response to the National Association of Black Journalists: pic.twitter.com/1SOlJK1iau
—Sarah Rees-Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 17, 2024
“It’s a very different story,” Harris told the National Association of Black Journalists when asked about Springfield.
This is such a shame and my heart breaks for this community.
Well, there were kids, elementary school kids. It was school picture day. Do you remember what it was like? You were going to school on picture day, dressed in your best clothes, ready to go, deciding the night before what you were going to wear. And then they had to evacuate. Kids, kids. The whole neighborhood was terrified.
I’ll say a couple of things about that. First, coming from a background as a prosecutor, there’s something I learned a long time ago in my career: when you’re in a position like this, when you have a microphone in front of you, you really have to understand, on a deep level, how much your words mean. I learned very early in my career that the meaning of my words can have the impact on whether someone goes free or goes to prison.
As Attorney General of California, the world’s fifth-largest economy, I was keenly aware that my words could move markets.
When you’re given such a big microphone, there’s a great deal of responsibility that comes with it. It’s an extension of what we cannot afford to lose in this moment. The notion of the public trust is about understanding what the public trust means. It means being trusted to be responsible for the way you use your words, and even more so, how you behave.
Especially when you’ve served as President of the United States and are then seeking to become President again.
So I say it’s deplorable what’s really happening to the families and children in that community, but what’s happening in terms of law enforcement, law enforcement resources are being poured into this because of the serious threats that are being made against communities that were living good, productive lives before this happened, and the spewing of lies based on old tropes.
I said the same thing the other day at a debate not far from here. This is not new. It’s not new in terms of these tropes or where they come from. And, you know, whether it’s renting to people, refusing to rent to black families, or taking out a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for the death penalty for five innocent black and Latino teenagers, the Central Park Five, it’s not new.
Whether you’re referring to the first black president of the United States, who lied, their lies are second nature. And I believe the American people want better than this. I believe so. I know, I know, the vast majority of Americans know that we have far more in common than what divides us.
I get that. I know people, regardless of background, race, gender, geographic location, are deeply troubled by what’s going on in the community of Springfield, Ohio. And it has to stop. And I have to say that he should not be entrusted to stand behind the seal of the President of the United States engaging in hateful rhetoric that is designed, as always, to divide the country and turn people against each other. That’s what it was designed to do. And I think that most people in our country, regardless of race, are beginning to see through this nonsense. And I say, let’s put an end to this.
This is exhausting and this is harmful and this is hateful and and and and and it’s rooted in old things that we should not tolerate. So let’s turn the page and forge a new path and say you can never pick up that microphone again.
Trump and Vance continue to lie about Springfield Because they don’t care about how their lies affect society.
Kamala Harris It was a very powerful and human answer to what was going on in Springfield. Vance’s lies are an abuse of the public trust, but that point has not been discussed enough.
Trump and Vance are trying to dehumanize immigrants, and Kamala Harris tells Americans why they should reject their efforts.
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