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As Democrats work to shore up Vice President Kamala Harris’ standing among Black male voters who could be decisive in battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, the Democratic nominee was peppered by polite but pointed questions during a radio town hall hosted by Charlamagne Tha God on Tuesday.
After the comedian and author asked Harris, the former California attorney general and career prosecutor, about allegations that she purposefully imprisoned Black men over marijuana to boost her career, she called the claims misinformation and defended her work.
“I know exactly how those laws have been used to disproportionately impact certain populations, and specifically Black men,” Harris said, adding that she was “the most progressive prosecutor” in California and pointed to her proposal to decriminalize marijuana.
Harris also argued that such false claims were part of a systemic effort by the campaign of her GOP rival, former President Trump.
“They are trying to scare people away because they know that otherwise they have nothing to run on,” she said.
Harris’ hourlong appearance with Charlamagne Tha God is part of a concerted effort by her campaign to stop the erosion of support for the Democratic nominee among Black men. Even though she will overwhelmingly win their vote, polling shows that she has less support than President Biden did four years ago among this crucial Democratic constituency.
Former President Obama addressed the slippage as he campaigned for Harris last week in Pittsburgh, saying the lack of energy “seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.”
On Monday, Harris unveiled an “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men” that includes providing fully forgivable loans to entrepreneurs; creating education, training and mentorship programs aimed at increasing job opportunities such as teaching for Black men; and creating a health equity initiative to focus on sickle cell disease, diabetes and other conditions that disproportionately affect Black men.
Her campaign also announced several new efforts to engage this voter bloc, including “Black Men Huddle Up” NFL and NCAA watch parties with celebrities and activists at Black-owned sports bars in cities such as Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta.
Later Tuesday, Harris discussed the danger a second Trump presidency poses to the nation, as well as the importance of voting, during a taped conversation with rappers Fat Joe and Too Short that aired during the BET Hip-Hop Awards .
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there that would suggest to people that their vote doesn’t matter, and as far as I’m concerned, you should never let anybody silence you,” Harris said. “Because when you vote, you actually have the ability to determine the future of our country.”
In response to Fat Joe raising the impact of misinformation on the election, Harris responded that it’s a purposeful attempt to depress the vote.
“When you tell people that they can’t trust the system, then what are they likely to do? Not participate,” she said. “And that’s why I say don’t ever let anybody take you out of the game. That’s the first step toward never being able to make a difference.”
During Harris’ town hall with Charlamagne Tha God, Solomon Kinloch Jr., a pastor at Triumph Church in Detroit, asked about allegations from the Trump campaign that she was not involved with the Black church community. Harris responded that such claims are “disinformation.”
Citing the Oakland church she attended as a child and her current pastor from the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, Harris said her Republican rival sought to “disconnect me from the people I have worked with and that I am from.”
And she turned to some of Trump’s recent merchandise.
“He’s selling $60 Bibles or tennis shoes and trying to play people as though that makes him more understanding of the Black community,” she said. “C’mon.”
Asked about the proposal of reparations to Black Americans because of slavery, the vice president repeated her previously stated position that “it has to be studied. There’s no question about that. And I’ve been very clear about that position.”
As a U.S. senator representing California, Harris supported the creation of a federal commission to study the issue.
The Trump campaign seized on the remark.
“Kamala Harris is a radical liberal,” the former president’s campaign said in a statement. “A 2020 report from NBC News noted that this “could cost the U.S. government between $10 trillion and $12 trillion.”
After Harris’ event with Charlamagne Tha God, she visited Cred Cafe, a Detroit small business owned by former NBA players Joe and Jamal Crawford. Actor Don Cheadle was among the attendees.
She noted that early voting begins in Michigan in four days after receiving a “Detroit VS Everybody” T-shirt from the brand’s founder. She said she felt a “kindred spirit” with Detroit.
Earlier in the day, she pointed to Trump’s slashing criticism of the city as what will happen to the United States if she is elected president, remarks he made there last week and reiterated Tuesday while participating in an interview with Bloomberg News in Chicago.
“Can you imagine you go to a city and say you want the votes of those people and disparage the city?” Harris said incredulously, adding that Trump tends to insult cities that have historically had majority-Black populations.