Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on a popular radio show Tuesday encouraged Americans to vote this year, even if they don’t believe all the issues they’re worried about can be solved in the near future.
“The solutions aren’t just going to happen overnight, and the solutions we all want aren’t going to come about entirely because of one election,” Harris said during a live interview in Detroit with co-host Charlamagne Tha God nationally syndicated “The Breakfast Club.”
“But here’s the thing: The things we want and want to fight for won’t happen if we don’t take action and participate.”
Harris said she doesn’t “support” the idea that something can’t be accomplished just because it takes a long time, pointing to the years of struggle before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 took effect.
“It took the brutality of what happened with John Lewis and all that [who] “We were trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge,” Harris said Bloody Sunday. “It has taken a lot of work throughout our history to achieve what we have achieved so far and we must remain committed.”
Harris, taking aim outreach to black male voters, Encouraged listeners who were disillusioned or traditionally disenfranchised with politics to go to the polls this year, arguing that if they stayed home they would send a message to “obstructionists who stand in the way of change, they win, because they convince people that it’s not possible.”
“Look at this circle, look at this vicious circle,” Harris said. “So let’s not fall for it.”
Harris said during the hour-long radio town hall that while the race between her and Republican nominee Donald Trump is extremely close, she expects to win once all the ballots are counted.
She also criticized him for making false statements about her career, the Biden administration’s actions and the policy proposals she made during her bid for the Oval Office.
“One of the biggest challenges I face is misinformation and disinformation, and it’s targeted because it’s designed to convince people that somehow they shouldn’t believe that the work I’ve done happened and has meaning has,” Harris said.
Trump and his allies, she said, are trying to “scare people away” from voting for her in the presidential race “because they know they have nothing else to run with.”
Police brutality
Harris spoke at length about her proposals to expand the child tax credit, facilitate first-time home buyers afford a down payment, augment access to capital for start-up miniature business owners and decriminalize cannabis.
She said that if elected, she would work with Congress to address police brutality through legislation, noting that President Joe Biden had signed legislation Implementing regulation That was more than two years ago made several changes on the functioning of federal law enforcement agencies.
The executive order required the Justice Department to establish a database of “official records documenting instances of misconduct by law enforcement officers and awards and decorations.”
Harris said during her interview that a significant change has occurred, among other provisions in the executive order that address how federal law enforcement can apply “no-knock warrants” and language banning chokeholds.
“This is not a small problem … because as we know, we have seen many examples of a police officer who has committed misconduct in one jurisdiction and then goes to another jurisdiction and is hired because there is no place to prosecute his misconduct,” Harris said, adding that if elected, she would urge Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
The The invoicewhich passed the house in March 2021 would have made significant changes to the way law enforcement officers operate at the local, state and federal levels, including racial profiling.
“Running for President for Everyone”
Harris was asked during the interview how her policies would impact the black community and whether she intended to create pathways for people to access modern educational and career opportunities.
“I’m running for president for everyone. But I have a clear view of history and the differences that exist for certain communities. And I won’t shy away from that,” Harris said. “That doesn’t mean my policies won’t benefit everyone, because they will. Everything I just talked about will benefit everyone.”
“Small business owners – regardless of their race, age, gender or geographic location – will benefit from the fact that I will expand tax deductions to $50,000,” she added.
“Every first-time homeowner – wherever they are, regardless of race – will benefit from receiving $25,000 in down payment assistance when purchasing a home for the first time. Everyone will benefit from my plan to expand the child tax credit to $6,000 in the first year of their child’s life. This will benefit everyone.”
