Karine Jean-Pierre: Kamala Harris is the 'future' of the Democratic Party
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the president and vice president are ready for re-election hurdles.
Vice President Kamala Harris made an appearance at the BET Awards last weekend that one magazine called a "cringe as hell" attempt to appeal to Black voters.
When asked what she’d been hearing about the upcoming election by actress Taraji P. Henson, Harris replied, "Yeah girl, I’m out here in these streets. And let me tell you, you’re right, Taraji. There is so much at stake in this moment. The majority of us believe in freedom and equality. But these extremists, as they say, they not like us," paying homage to 17-time Grammy winner, rapper Kendrick Lamar’s ‘diss track’ to Canadian rapper Drake, ‘Not Like Us.’"
Complex magazine called the move "unflinchingly corny" while comparing it to past exploits of 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
"If Hillary Clinton is the Ken Griffey Jr. of pandering, then it looks like Kamala is becoming the Barry Bonds of it," the magazine wrote.
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Jayson Buford, a journalist contributing to the hip-hop publication, added that Clinton’s attempts at pandering to Black voters were "flattening the glaring issues Black people had" and suggested that Harris can't relate to the problems they face.
"The true humiliation of attempting to garner votes she didn’t deserve was what caused Clinton’s eventual downfall in the election. Voters didn’t show up for her like they did former president Barack Obama. Instead of campaigning in areas in the Rust Belt that were on the fence — states Obama had won — she talked about carrying hot sauce on her bag on ‘The Breakfast Club’," Buford wrote.
"The community’s impartial distrust in her cultural knowledge is like a Hulk Hogan headlock for her political career," Buford continued. "[This song] is supposed to be a celebration of community in the face of the interloper that can only wish to be us, but can’t totally sell the drastically Black mindset that the men and women with Black skin have. Kamala Harris, the former district attorney who was successful in increasing conviction rates, doesn’t fit what (hopefully) Kendrick Lamar had in mind when he made that song."
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a "First In The Nation" campaign rally at South Carolina State University on February 02, 2024 in Orangeburg, South Carolina. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
At the BET Awards, Henson tried to address reproductive rights with Harris.
"They [sic] out here trying to take away Pride, Plan B and Planned Parenthood, but protecting pistols. If you ask me, they pushing the wrong Ps," Henson said,
When asked what could be done about it, Harris responded, "We will do what we’ve always done. Fight for our freedoms. But here’s the thing, we cannot fight alone. We need to get our families, our friends, co-workers, cousins, play cousins, aunties and uncles, get all of them to register to vote. That’s why I’ve been so busy, trying to make sure everyone is registered to vote and that they head to the ballot box on November 5."
"There is a full-on attack on our fundamental freedoms, the freedom to vote, the freedom to love who you love, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom for a woman to make decisions about her own body, not having her government tell her what to do," Harris said.
Harris’ BET Awards appearance made international headlines. Sky News Australia journalist James Macpherson said, "Imagine running an administration so bad, failing so epicly, that your greatest hope for re-election is to boast that you’ll be more effective in killing the unborn than your opponents."
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"Don’t you just love it the more they refer to anyone who believes differently from them as extremists. I’m like this is wearing so thin so fast nobody believes you anymore," Sky News host Liz Storer added.
Harris sent out a tweet accusing GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump of banning "abortion nationwide." Users on the platform added links to the tweet, calling her claim to be misinformation.
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