Sen. Kamala Harris sat down with CNN’s Dana Bash for an interview that was released in full on Sunday. The Democratic vice presidential nominee and Bash talked about the novel coronavirus pandemic, police brutality, systemic racism, Russian interference, and of course, Donald Trump. Let’s look at the dialogue, including lots of video clips, below.
First, some background. Last week on CNN, Attorney General William Barr refused to acknowledge that there are, indeed, essentially different systems of justice for white people and people of color. In fact, he described the idea as a “false narrative” and suggested we ”have to be a little careful about throwing the idea of racism around.”
Barr said “there appears to be a phenomenon in the country where African Americans feel that they're treated, when they're stopped by police, frequently, as suspects before they are treated as citizens,” but that he does not think “necessarily reflects some deep-seated racism in police departments or in most police officers,” and suggested that Black police officers do the “same kind of behavior.” His phrasing that Black Americans feel that they experience this treatment, as opposed to acknowledging the litany of data that supports its veracity, is very telling.
Trump, unsurprisingly, also refuses to acknowledge systemic racism in the U.S., even as recently as his press conference in Kenosha, Wisconsin, home of Jacob Blake, instead deflecting to talk vaguely about “violence” in cities like Portland, Oregon, where protests for justice have been ongoing—and largely peaceful.
In speaking to Bash, Harris said that both Barr and Trump are living “full time in a different reality," which is a nice way to describe a floundering federal administration. Harris argued that we have had “two systems of justice in America” for generations, since “our inception.” She pointed out that there is “no question that we have seen an unacceptable incidence for generations of unarmed Black men being killed.”
“Let's just deal with it,” Harris said in reference to racial disparities in the way laws are enforced. “Let's be honest. These might be difficult conversations for some, but they're not difficult conversations for leaders, not for real leaders.” Zing!
On the global pandemic, Harris said there is “no question” Trump has been an “abject failure and incompetent” when it comes to handling unemployment as a result of the pandemic, adding that “he has failed to address the pandemic itself.” She stressed: “Right now, working people are suffering."
Similarly, on the virus, Harris said she would trust the words of “public health experts and scientists,” such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, but not Trump’s alone when it comes to a coronavirus vaccine being distributed before the election in November. The big question with experts, however, is whether or not experts will actually get the last word when it comes to the vaccine.
Here is that clip.
Harris argued that Trump—who has said a vaccine would “probably” come in October, contradicting health officials—is “looking at an election coming up in less than 60 days and he's grasping to get whatever he can to pretend he has been a leader on this issue when he is not."
Harris also said mask-wearing should be a “national standard” but did not call for a federal mandate on wearing masks. She added that wearing a mask shouldn’t be a partisan issue, though Trump clearly has made it one.
You can check out the full interview, courtesy of YouTube, below.
from Daily Kos https://ift.tt/2FfdE0I
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