Voters outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday slammed Vice President Kamala Harris' record, telling an independent journalist that the vice president “just doesn't care” about black voters.
A group of black voters accompanied journalist Nick Shirley to question Democratic National Convention attendees about whether Harris is qualified to be president. All three had voiced support for former President Donald Trump, but one woman said Harris was trying to appeal to black voters through Hollywood elites and questioned how the vice president has exploited her racial identity over the years. (Related article: Trump is still within striking distance in Democratic-leaning states that Republicans haven't won in 20 years, despite Harris' national success.)
“It would be great to have a black woman as president. She's half black, not full black, but it would be great to have a black woman as president. But I'm definitely voting for Trump,” one voter initially told Shirley.
A second voter then slammed Harris for a past interview in which she “identified as West Indian,” and claimed she was using her African-American identity to garner black votes.
“I'm telling you, she's trying to get the black vote. If you look at her past, maybe 10, 15 years ago, in interviews, she identified as West Indian. It's only now that she identifies as African-American,” the voter told Shirley.[She’s] Doing [it] “She doesn't care about that right now because she wants the support of the voters. Where has she been for the last four years? She's the vice president. What has she done for us?”
“I'm going to support Trump. Sorry if that might upset people but I've done my research and Trump has done so much for us, way more than the media is willing to let you know. They've co-opted all our favorite rappers, Megan Thee Stallion's twerking dancing and everything for their own profit. [voters] “They think if they do that, we'll vote for them, but that's not true. I'll never vote for someone like that,” the voter continued, with other voters nearby seen agreeing.
The voter went on to criticize Democrats' temporary cleanup of Chicago to bring Harris there, saying the city remains unsafe due to its crime-ridden status.
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“Let me just say this: Chicago is trying to clean up their streets so they can bring Kamala to town. As if there aren't enough murders happening around here. No street is safe on Michigan Avenue right now,” the voter continued.
“Let's talk about it, but you guys want to clean it up. You want to board up buildings. You want to board up stores so that when Kamala comes to town we can act like Chicago is safe, but it's not,” the voter said.
The race between Trump and Harris has intensified in recent weeks since she became the party's presumptive nominee. Though Harris has garnered notable support from black voters compared to polls prior to President Joe Biden's reelection bid, her approval rating still lags behind that of former President Barack Obama.
Recent CBS News/YouGov vote The poll, conducted Aug. 14-16, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points, found that 79% of black voters surveyed plan to support Harris in November. Exit polls According to the results of the 2012 presidential election, President Obama won 93% of the black vote for his second term.
Trump faced mixed reactions after criticizing Harris for using her race and ethnicity during a panel interview with the National Association of Black Journalists in late July, with the former president saying he didn't know she was black until a few years ago because she had touted her Indian ancestry throughout her career.
“I've known her indirectly for a long time, but not much directly. She's always been Indian and just promoted her Indian ancestry,” Trump said. “I didn't know she was black until a few years ago, when she happened to be black, and now she wants to be known as black. So I don't know if she's Indian or black.”
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