Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday sought to shore up her support with Black men by calling for legalizing marijuana at the federal level and saying she’s open to reparations.
Ms. Harris participated in a town hall-style conversation with Charlamagne tha God on his popular radio show, “The Breakfast Club.” The show has 8 million monthly listeners, which is largely comprised of young Black men.
During her remarks, the Democratic presidential nominee touted several policy proposals that are designed to appeal to Black men, such as providing 1 million small business loans to help them jump into “high-demand” industries, and launching an initiative focused on health issues that disproportionately impact Black men.
Ms. Harris said during the town hall that she is still open to paying reparations to Black Americans for slavery.
“On the point of reparations, it has to be studied and there’s no question about that. And I’ve been clear about that position,” she said before quickly changing the subject to tout her economic agenda.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign immediately hit back at Ms. Harris’ call for studying reparations.
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It said the statement proves she is a “radical liberal” and linked to an NBC News article saying reparations would cost the federal government between $10 trillion and $12 trillion.
In her interview, Ms. Harris also reaffirmed her call to legalize marijuana nationally, a pledge she made Monday as part of the rollout of her economic plan to boost the Black community.
“My pledge as president, I will work on decriminalizing it, because I know exactly how those laws have been used to disproportionately impact certain populations and specifically Black men,” she said.
Charlamagne pressed Ms. Harris on talk in the Black community that, if elected, she wouldn’t do anything for them. She dismissed that claim as “misinformation,” defending her work over the course of her career for Black communities.
“Part of the challenge that I face is that they are trying to scare people away because they know that otherwise, they have nothing to run on. Ask Donald Trump what his plan is for Black America,” she said.
When asked about her record as a prosecutor in San Francisco where she put thousands of Black men behind bars for marijuana-related offenses.
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Ms. Harris again dismissed the allegation as “misinformation” and talked about her efforts to dismiss marijuana cases.
“I was the most progressive prosecutor in California on marijuana cases and would not send people to jail for simple possession of weed,” she said.
Ms. Harris said that she has been a “champion for bringing marijuana down on the schedule,” meaning reclassifying it under federal law drug law.
“I know exactly how those laws have been used to disproportionately impact certain populations, and specifically Black men,” she said again touting her support for decriminalizing marijuana.
The sit-down with Charlamagne was part of Ms. Harris’ stretch of several campaign events and policy proposals to boost her support among Black men.
In addition to the town hall with Charlamagne, the Harris campaign has launched events tailored to Black men and launched ads featuring them in testimonials as part of its “Black Men Huddle Up” campaign.
The efforts to appeal to Black men come as recent polling from CBS News and The New York Times/Siena College suggest that she is struggling with those voters, among whom Democrats don’t just need to win, but win overwhelmingly.
While all polls show she has a sizable lead over Mr. Trump with Black men, The New York Times poll found that she has just 78% support, well below the 90% Democrats drew in the 2016 and 2020 elections. In both those races, Democrats won the popular vote and the Electoral College was decided by margins of around a percentage point in a few swing states.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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