Amy Kennedy: Democrats Opposing ‘Abolishing’ Police Not Doing Enough to ‘Address Racism’

Amy Kennedy, the Democrat candidate for New Jersey’s Second Congressional District, said during a virtual meeting that Democrats who oppose defunding or abolishing the police are not doing enough to address racism.

“I’m worried that, um, in our efforts, as, um, Democrats to say, ‘No, no, we don’t support defunding; we’re not abolishing the police,’ that we might, you know, not do enough to address racism in this country,” Kennedy said during a Gloucester County Federation of Democratic Women virtual meeting on September 10.

This is not the first time that Kennedy has called for defunding southern New Jerseyans’ law enforcement.

In September, she told the Atlantic City National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,”There’s a lot of merit to what we’re hearing around the country when we talk about how we should be reallocating funds to make healthy communities.”

Kennedy hopes to unseat Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), a former Democrat who switched to the Republican Party over his opposition to the Democrat impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

A Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee poll released in July found that Van Drew led Kennedy by three points. An RMG Research poll released in August likewise found Van Drew leading Kennedy by three points.

New Jersey’s Second Congressional District represents a pivotal swing district in Republicans’ fight for the House majority. The southern New Jersey district was one of the 31 congressional districts that President Donald Trump won during the 2016 presidential election.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Michael McAdams told Breitbart News that Kennedy’s statement shows that the New Jersey Democrat believes that if you do not support defunding the police, “you’re racist.”

“Amy Kennedy’s comments that if you don’t support defunding the police, you’re racist sum up her radical, out-of-step ideas that have no place in South Jersey,” McAdams told Breitbart News in a statement.