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DERAY MCKESSON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: So, let me be crystal clear. Biden and Harris will be an incredible ticket. They will do wonders to make sure this country is put on the right track. I believe that, right? So, that is like as clear as I can say it. I am happy Kamala Harris was the pick. I think she will be an incredible vice president and I think she has a long career in politics and I think she will continue to grow on some issues that people disagree with her on. I believe that. I also believe that there is a conversation to be had about her record and I know that she is equipped to have that conversation. I’m confident that she can have that conversation. And will it please everybody? No. But, you know, there are not a lot of things that please everybody. And I can also be real about that. The third thing is he has to get out of office, right. So, I am saying all of these things are true at the same time, Trump has got to go is like the third thing that we just have to be laser focused on.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: To that end, there’s either 100 or more than 100 prominent black men in America who wrote a letter basically saying that it has to be a black woman as the vice-presidential choice for Biden, otherwise, it could cost him the election. I thought that was really incredible. First of all, men, more than 100 of them, and spanning all sorts of generations and spectrum on the Democratic Party and areas of — you know, from Sean Combs to Van Jones, to all sorts of people, it’s a pretty big statement, don’t you think, that 100 plus letter signature?
MCKESSON: You know, what I think is really powerful is that black women have been organizing both during this election cycle but in American history in unprecedented ways in terms of the media coverage, right? So, we know it’s always been happening but hasn’t been covered in the media. And now, we’re having public conversations about the importance of black women in the political process and in civic life (INAUDIBLE), and that’s really powerful. I think the letter that came out is something that matters in terms of the public conversation. But I will just repeat that like black women have been pushing these conversations and the political left for a long time. So, I think that this is both an acknowledgment of that, the importance of the black female vote. And I think that this will be historic, in practice.
About This Episode EXPAND
A core criticism of Harris during the race for the Democratic nomination concerned her career as a prosecutor in California. Having earned a reputation for being tough on crime, she now says that she is determined to combat systemic racial injustice. Activist DeRay Mckesson has spent years drawing attention to institutionalized racism, and he joins the show to discuss Harris’ place on the ticket.
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