On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” Harris-Walz Campaign Co-Chair Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) responded to 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ past praise of the Defund the Police movement by stating that “I don’t understand why we put so much emphasis on that,” she’s gotten criticized for being too aggressive as a prosecutor, and “when you pursue your profession, sometimes, people tend to misrepresent exactly what the real facts are. So, I think that she has done a tremendous job in all the professions she has had. None of us are perfect. But all of us are in pursuit of perfection.”
Host Jake Tapper said, “Vice President Harris has never specifically called for defunding the police, but, in 2020, when the movement was big, she did praise the Defund the Police movement for questioning police budgets. And I wonder if you fear at all that these nuanced abstractions make her vulnerable to people not knowing exactly where she stands on issues. For example, in June 2020, I asked you about the Defund the Police movement, and you said, ‘Nobody is going to defund the police.’ A pretty explicit position that she did not take.”
Clyburn responded, “Well, that’s right, because I believe very strongly in the police, I also believe there’s probably unfairness, and I also know that we have rogue cops and we have ministers that need to be defrocked. We have these in all professions. There are lawyers that get disbarred. And when this happens, we don’t get rid of the profession. We get rid of those who…in some way, do something untoward. So, the same thing goes with police. We believe in the police, we support the police, we want to call upon them when we need them, and we will fund them for that purpose. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to hold them accountable like we hold all other professionals accountable.”
Tapper then said, “But that’s my point. You’re kind of proving my point, because that is a very clear policy statement. And that’s not what Kamala Harris was saying in 2019, 2020, when she was talking about, well, it’s good that they’re bringing attention to police budgets, etc. And that gives Trump the room to say, she’s all over the map on this issue, just like she is with fracking and others.”
Clyburn responded, “Well, I don’t understand why we put so much emphasis on that, and when we see the other side accusing her of over-policing when she was a district attorney, I’ve heard people accuse her of being too forceful in that job. She was attorney general, she has been accused in that regard as well. So, we all have these detractors, no matter what you do. Very few people will really admit to wrongdoing. And so, when you pursue your profession, sometimes, people tend to misrepresent exactly what the real facts are. So, I think that she has done a tremendous job in all the professions she has had. None of us are perfect. But all of us are in pursuit of perfection.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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