RNC speakers: What to know about Kim Klacik
'Black people don’t have to vote Democrat,' Klacik says in political ad
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kim Klacik is a Republican congressional candidate who is running for the late Rep. Elijah Cummings’ 7th district seat in Maryland. Her campaign advertisement went viral last week for its blistering critique of Democratic inner-city rule.
She is expected to speak on the first night of the four-day Republican National Convention on Monday.
The overall convention theme is "honoring the great American story," and Klacik will speak on the day themed "Land of Promise."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In an interview with "Fox and Friends" Monday morning, Klacik said her speech at the RNC will encourage fellow Republicans not to write off inner cities, and instead go in and “roll up our sleeves” to give voters other options besides downvoting a Democratic ticket.
She said she will also discuss inner-city “opportunity zones” to bring jobs into Baltimore, and talk about the effect of the pandemic on the city, which had to import PPE, instead of bringing the billion-dollar medical equipment industry stateside.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Regarding President Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, Klacik said the former vice president “succumbed to the mob” on Twitter by picking Sen. Kamala Harris of California as a running mate based on her gender and ethnicity.
Klacik was thrust into the national spotlight last week when her nearly three-minute video went viral. It had been viewed more than 11.2 million times on Twitter alone by early Monday. She was retweeted by Trump and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
In the political ad, Klacik asks, “Do you care about Black lives? The people that run Baltimore don’t. I can prove it. Walk with me. They don’t want you to see this…”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As she walks around some of the more neglected areas of Baltimore, she explains to camera: “This is the reality for Black people every single day: crumbling infrastructure, abandoned homes, poverty and crime. Baltimore has been run by the Democrat Party for 53 years. What is the result of their decades of leadership?”
Klacik, who is Black, explains that Baltimore is one of the top five most dangerous cities in America, the murder rate in Baltimore is 10 times the U.S. average, the Baltimore poverty rate is over 20 percent, and “homicide, drug and alcohol deaths are skyrocketing in our city.”
“Do you believe Black lives matter? I do,” she affirms. “The vast majority of crime in Baltimore is perpetrated against Black people, who make up 60% of the population. So why don’t we care about our communities? The Democrat Party has betrayed the Black people of Baltimore. If politicians walked the streets like I do, they would see exactly how their policies and corruption affect us.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Go to any Baltimore neighborhood and ask this question: Do you want to defund the police?” Klacik challenges.
The video then shows three Baltimore residents responding: “No.”
One man claims he had three sons all killed in violence in Baltimore. Another man asks how he’s supposed to defend his community without the police, all the while “families are losing people.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The worst place for a Black person to live in America is a Democrat-controlled city. It’s 2020. Name a blue city where Black people’s lives have gotten better. Try… I’ll wait," Klacik says.
TRUMP VOWS TO WORK WITH KIM KLACIK TO 'BRING BALTIMORE BACK'
“Look at this. How are children supposed to live here and play here?” she asks, showing smashed windows and empty streets. "Democrats think Black people are stupid.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They think they can control us forever. That we won’t demand better. And that we’ll keep voting for them, forever despite what they’ve done to our families and our communities. Are they right?”
In the final words of the ad, Klacik affirms: "Black people don’t have to vote Democrat.”
Klacik was defeated in April’s special election by Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume, who filled the seat left unoccupied by the late Rep. Elijah Cummings. Klacik will try to unseat Mfume come Election Day in November to serve Maryland’s 7th District, which includes parts of Baltimore City, as well as sections of Howard and Baltimore counties.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Though it is unclear where every speaker will deliver remarks at the convention held mostly virtually amid the pandemic, hundreds of delegates are expected to gather in Charlotte, N.C. to formally renominate Trump.
Vice President Mike Pence is expected to speak Wednesday at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry, the site of a failed British invasion during the War of 1812, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Klacik currently lives in Middle River, which is not in the 7th District, but said she will relocate if elected, the Baltimore Sun reported. According to her campaign website, Klacik is a wife, mother and founder of the non-profit “Potential Me,” which has worked since 2013 to help hundreds of women become gainfully employed and achieve financial independence. She grew up in Accokeek, Md., and moved to Baltimore in 2010 once she became engaged to her husband.