Kamala Harris insists she must earn Black men’s vote and doesn’t ‘assume’ she has it during NABJ-WHYY panel

“Black men are like any other voting group; you’ve got to earn their vote. So I’m working to earn the vote,” Vice President Harris told theGrio’s Gerren Keith Gaynor during a special NABJ-WHYY panel held in Philadelphia.

Vice President Kamala Harris took questions during an exclusive, wide-ranging interview hosted by NABJ and WHYY on Tuesday in Philadelphia, which included a question from theGrio’s Gerren Keith Gaynor about the role of Black male voters in the upcoming election.

“Black men are like any other voting group; you’ve got to earn their vote,” Harris told the panel, which was co-moderated by Gaynor, along with Poltico’s Eugene Daniels and NPR WHYY’s Tonya Mosley. “So I’m working to earn the vote. Not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black.”

While the majority of Black voters polled say they intend to choose Harris — 77% according to the Pew Research Center — many headlines have repeated narratives that more Black men say they are supporting former President Donald Trump this election cycle.

Harris also discussed her plans to expand the amount of money entrepreneurs can deduct when they launch a startup business from $5,000 to $50,000, saying the the $5,000 deduction wasn’t nearly enough to help people get their businesses off the ground.

“Part of my approach is understanding the obstacles that traditionally and currently exist to allow anyone, including Black men, to be able to achieve economic wealth, and I’m going to tell you I don’t think it is sufficient to only talk about economic policy around reducing unemployment,” Harris continued.

During the interview Harris also addressed questions about the affordability of child care and improving the cost of housing.

Politics

She also answered questions about the conflict in Gaza, emphasizing that a hostage deal must be reached, as she was pressed on questions about the U.S. role in supplying arms to Israel by Daniels, and was asked by Mosley whether the U.S. has levers to support Palestinians in their right to self-determination.

“I have been actively involved in, for example, meeting not only with Israeli officials but with Arab officials to talk about how we can construct a day-after scenario where we participate in ensuring those exact goals that I outlined, including … that there be no reoccupation of Gaza,” Harris told Moseley.

Harris also spoke about the false and racist rumors spread by former President Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, calling the situation a “crying shame” and saying that those in important positions have a responsibility to understand the power of their words.

“When you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a very deep level how much your words have meaning,” Harris said. “There is a profound responsibility that comes with that, that is an extension of … this concept of the public trust. You have been invested with trust to be responsible in the way you use your words much less how you conduct yourself, especially when you have been and then seek to be again president of the United States of America.”

In contrast to what was an extremely combative and tense interview with Donald Trump at NABJ in July, Harris closed the interview by thanking NABJ and the interviewers for making the conversation happen.

You can watch the full conversation here.

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