DNC chair Jaime Harrison breaks down how Kamala Harris has improved the lives of hardworking Americans — and Trump can’t say the same.
By Jaime Harrison
Word in Black
Last week, Donald Trump once again showed the world what he truly is: racist, disrespectful, and unfit to lead. In a conversation with the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris “could be” a “DEI hire” and “happened to turn Black.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena, Aug. 9, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Those despicable comments say a lot about Trump’s character, and they also tell us something else — Trump and JD Vance don’t think they can beat Vice President Harris so they need to resort to racist and sexist comments. They know they can’t win an election on the merits of policy ideas or leadership ability. And we know that they are scared.
Trump and Vance should be scared because Vice President Harris has done more good in the last three-and-a-half years as vice president than they’ve done in their entire lives.
Vice President Harris played an essential role in President Biden’s initiatives that invested an unprecedented $16 billion in HBCUs and to date have forgiven $167 billion in student loan debt for nearly 5 million Americans. The Biden-Harris administration also capped the cost of insulin at $35 per month for seniors and acted to lower prescription drug costs. Over the last three years, we’ve seen Black unemployment go down, and new Black-owned small businesses are opening every day.
In every corner of our nation, the vice president has improved the lives of hardworking Americans. Trump certainly can’t say the same.
But that’s nothing new for Kamala Harris. Let’s take a look at some of the work she has done before taking office:
As a young lawyer in California, she fought against a measure that would allow prosecutors the option of trying juvenile defendants as adults. During her tenure as district attorney of San Francisco, she made history when she officiated the first same-sex wedding in California after Proposition 8 was overturned, and created a groundbreaking program to provide first-time drug offenders with the opportunity to earn a high school degree and a pathway to employment. While she was attorney general of California, Vice President Harris defended the Affordable Care Act in court and took on big banks that were preying on vulnerable Americans.
Now when you consider her accomplishments, think about the fact that she is the first woman and first person of color to hold these jobs in California. She has spent a lifetime making critical decisions when all eyes were on her, and she has more than enough experience handling doubters who scrutinize her every move. The pressures of the presidency will be nothing new.
That is why we know she will not back down when it comes to supporting the Black community. She’s not planning to coast on past accomplishments. Once she’s in office, she will continue fighting for policies that create equity and opportunity for Black Americans across the country and uplift our voices in every corner of the world.
I can guarantee you that promises made by the vice president are promises kept. Because over the past three years, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know her well. She reminds me so much of the Black women who shaped my life. I see the strength and determination of my grandmother, who picked cotton and raised a family on next to nothing. I see the warmth of my mother who had me as a teenager and worked three times as hard to make sure I could be anything I wanted. And I see the brilliance of my wife who succeeds at literally everything she does.
The vice president embodies the best qualities of our community and our country. And she needs us now to rally around her and show her the same love and respect we show the women in our lives.
We’re already seeing that support through record fundraising numbers, droves of new volunteer signups and the unbelievable attendance at rallies. There’s renewed energy around this election. But we have to keep that energy going all the way through November because we cannot risk another four years of Donald Trump.
No matter what he says, Trump is not fighting for us. At best, he’s fighting in spite of us. We cannot let the world forget the division and violence that took place on his watch. His policies did not make Black communities any wealthier.
Trump’s rhetoric at the NABJ conference told us that not only will nothing change if he’s back in the White House, but there is much more damage he can do.
Thankfully, we have the power to stop him. We can usher in a new generation of leaders and an America that works for all of us.
That starts when we elect Kamala Harris to serve as president of the United States.
Jaime Harrison currently serves as the Chair of the Democratic National Committee. As the son of a single teenage mom, Jaime Harrison was raised by his grandparents in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Jaime knows what it’s like for a family to have to choose between paying the electric bill and putting food on the table, and what it feels like to go to sleep in a home with no heat, because the power was shut off.
But thanks to a good public school education, the love of his family, and the support of his community, Jaime was able to earn a scholarship to Yale University and attend Georgetown Law. After college, Jaime came back home to Orangeburg to teach at his old high school, then worked to help empower disadvantaged kids to attend college. Jaime also served as an aide to legendary South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn. In 2013, Jaime was elected the first African American chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party, a position he held until 2017, when he was appointed by DNC Chair Tom Perez as an Associate Chair of the DNC. In 2020, Jaime ran for the U.S. Senate from South Carolina, building a national grassroots movement and setting a fundraising record for the most raised by a Senate candidate. Jaime and his wife Marie live in Columbia, South Carolina, where they raise their two young sons.
This article was originally published on WordinBlack.com.
