DETROIT (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris warned Tuesday that Republican Donald Trump will “institutionalize” harsh policing tactics that disproportionately affect black men, while Trump blamed Harris’ immigration policies for the “devastating” black and Latino communities.
“Any African-American or Hispanic who votes for Kamala … needs to get their head checked because they’re really screwing you over,” Trump said of Harris, who is African-American, at an evening rally in Georgia.
Previously, Harris pledged during a radio roundtable hosted by Charlamagne tha God to advocate for the decriminalization of marijuana, which leads to arrests that also have a disproportionate impact on black men. And she acknowledged that racial disparities and prejudices exist in everyday Black lives — in home ownership, health care, economic prosperity and even voting rights.
Just 21 days before the final votes are cast in the 2024 presidential season, Harris and Trump are struggling to win over Black voters, women and other key constituencies in an election that appears to be very close. Harris, a daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, is hoping to maintain her party’s time-honored lead among voters of color, while Trump is showing modest signs of momentum, particularly among black men.
A tiny shift within a group could influence the choice.
Harris told Charlamagne that despite ongoing racial bias, no one had permission to sit out the election.
“We should never sit back and say, ‘Okay, I’m not going to vote because everything isn’t settled yet,'” she said. “There is a margin for error. It’s tight. I’m going. “I’m going to win, but it’s close.”
The vice president answered questions from listeners as well as a number of people in the studio, including Pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr., pastor of Triumph Church in Detroit.
When asked about reparations or possible government payments to the descendants of enslaved people, Harris said the notion “needs to be studied, there’s no doubt about that.” It’s a position she’s taken before but was immediately seized upon by Trump’s campaign and said the vice president was “open” to payments that could cost billions.
Trump called for a return to “tried and true methods of fighting crime, including stop and frisk.” The tactic used by the New York Police Department was to stop, question, and sometimes search people deemed to be “reasonably suspicious.” Black and Hispanic men were disproportionately affected, and in 2013 the measure was found to violate the U.S. Constitution.
Harris said part of her challenge is that Trump’s campaign is “trying to scare people away because otherwise they know they have nothing to run with.” Ask Donald Trump what his plan is for black America. Ask him.”
Trump did not respond to Harris’ criticism at several stops on Tuesday, including a Fox News town hall with an all-female audience and a late-night rally in Atlanta, where he railed against Democrats and the media, focusing particularly on immigrants living in the country illegally.
He insisted that immigrants “destroy” people of color by taking their jobs. He called President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris’ border policies a “complete and total betrayal of African American and Hispanic communities.”
During the town hall, the former president dodged questions about the erosion of abortion rights and instead addressed the country’s culture wars by promising to ban athletes born male from participating in women’s sports.
Asked how he would enforce a ban, Trump replied: “You just ban it. President bans. You just won’t let it happen.”
Trump also stuck to his recent description of his political opponents as an “enemy within” – rhetoric reminiscent of authoritarian regimes.
Previously, Harris, along with actors Don Cheadle, Delroy Lindo and Detroit native Cornelius Smith Jr., visited a Black-owned art gallery to speak to Black men about entrepreneurship.
Harris this week announced a series of fresh proposals called the “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” that would provide more economic benefits to black men – including providing forgivable business loans of up to $20,000 for entrepreneurs and creating more apprenticeships . The plans would also support the study of sickle cell anemia and other diseases that are more common in black men.
The focus on black men intensified last week when former President Barack Obama campaigned for Harris in Pittsburgh and said he wanted to tell black male voters “some truths,” suggesting that some “just don’t feel like having one.” to have a woman as president.” ”
The vice president’s campaign does not believe black men will support Trump in vast numbers, especially after they strongly supported Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 with Harris as his running mate. They are more concerned about a measurable percentage of black men choosing not to vote at all.
Meanwhile, Harris’ support among women has generally been solid since she took the helm of the Democratic Party, but Trump is aiming to narrow the margins on Election Day. That could be tough as the former president has seen support among women, particularly in the suburbs of many key swing states, wane since his time in the White House.
An AP-NORC poll in September found that more than half of registered voters have a somewhat or very favorable opinion of Harris, while only about a third have a favorable opinion of Trump. To reverse the trend, Trump has tried to portray himself as someone who can personally protect women from various threats.
“You will be protected, and I will be your protector,” Trump said at a rally in September. He also suggested that if he wins, women would no longer have reason to consider abortion after appointing three Supreme Court justices in 2022 who helped overturn the landmark ruling.
Harris said Tuesday that it’s strange that Trump considers himself a president for women, especially as maternal mortality rates are rising and about one in three women live in states with increasingly restrictive abortion bans.
“And they want to strut around saying this is in the best interest of women and children? And they were still on black maternal mortality?” she asked.
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Reported for a long time from Washington. Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in New York, Jill Colvin in Chicago and Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.
