Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris announced Friday that she was withdrawing from the Second Step Presidential Justice Forum — where she was scheduled to speak.
Harris pulled her name from the list of speakers in protest of the Bipartisan Justice Award the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center gave to President Donald Trump, for his efforts with regard to criminal justice reform through his support of the First Step Act.
NEWS: Kamala Harris will now SKIP tomorrow’s Second Step Presidential Justice Forum at Benedict College, where she was a scheduled speaker. Harris is protesting that President Trump was given an award today for his criminal justice efforts.
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) October 25, 2019
“As the only candidate who attended an HBCU, I know the importance that these spaces hold for young Black Americans. Today, when it became clear Donald Trump would receive an award after decades of celebrating mass incarceration, pushing the death penalty for innocent Black…”
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) October 25, 2019
“…Americans, rolling back police accountability measures and racist behavior that puts people’s lives at risk and then learned all but ten Benedict students are excluded from participating, I cannot in good faith be complicit in papering over his record. (2/2)
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) October 25, 2019
Harris, who was the recipient of that same award in 2017, issued a statement explaining that she believed going through with her planned speech would make her “complicit in papering over his record.” (RELATED: Kamala Harris Campaign Team Mimics The Tweet That Came Back To Bite Hillary Clinton)
As the only candidate who attended an HBCU, I know the importance that these spaces hold for young Black Americans. Today, when it became clear Donald Trump would receive an award after decades of celebrating mass incarceration, pushing the death penalty for innocent Black Americans, rolling back police accountability measures and racist behavior that puts people’s lives at risk and then learned all but ten Benedict students are excluded from participating, I cannot in good faith be complicit in papering over his record.
Harris also announced that she would be holding her own alternate event during the time that she had been scheduled to speak — a criminal justice roundtable discussion with Bakari Sellers.
Harris will now hold a criminal justice roundtable with former SC state rep. @Bakari_Sellers
during her scheduled 2 p.m. speaking slot. Location TBA in Columbia, SC— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) October 25, 2019
SC Democrats protested this today and Kamala stands with them. She will hold a separate event on criminal justice reform during the same time slot that is *open* to students and does not honor Trumps terrible record on justice issues. https://t.co/Rhwy2cHei2
— Lily Adams (@adamslily) October 25, 2019
Harris added, “There is nothing in his career that is about justice, for justice, or in celebration of justice.”
“But she’s pulling out because … “there is nothing in Trump’s career that is about justice, for justice, or in celebration of justice.”
Instead, Harris will hold a criminal justice roundtable at another Columbia site on Saturday.https://t.co/h6HdxFS86F
— Kirsten Allen (@knicole_a) October 25, 2019
NEWS >> After they gave Trump a justice award, despite decades of racist behavior championing injustice, @KamalaHarris will not participate in the Second Step Presidential Justice Forum in SC. Will instead hold her own CJR conversation with HBCU students and Columbia community.
— Ian Sams (@IanSams) October 25, 2019