Biden Picked A ‘Cop’: Some On Left Slam Choice Of Kamala Harris For VP

TOPLINE

While many Democrats celebrated the historic choice of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as the party’s vice presidential nominee, many on the left wing of the party had a less enthused reaction, and some even attacked the selection, claiming Harris’ background as a prosecutor does not make her a good choice for Democrats during a time of national reckoning of injustices caused by criminal prosecution in the United States.

KEY FACTS

CRITICAL QUOTE

“We are in the midst of the largest protest movement in American history, the subject of which is excessive policing, and the Democratic Party chose a ‘top cop’ and the author of the Joe Biden crime bill to save us from Trump,” Gray said in a tweet.

KEY BACKGROUND

Harris drew fierce criticism from the left during her own presidential campaign for her career as a prosecutor, including a stint as San Francisco district attorney from 2004 to 2011 before her time as California attorney general from 2011 to 2017. A critical moment when her campaign appeared to lose momentum was after U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) tore into Harris’ record as a prosecutor, saying Harris “put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana.” Harris responded by saying she helped “significantly” reform California’s criminal justice system and promised reforms at the national level during her presidential campaign, including marijuana legalization and abolishing mandatory minimum sentences.

TANGENT

In 2010, the president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association said, “There is no way that my members would ever allow me to endorse Kamala Harris,” since Harris did not seek the death penalty for the 2004 murder of a San Francisco police officer. Harris is opposed to the death penalty.

FURTHER READING

Biden Picks Kamala Harris: Trump Responds, Democrats Unite, Harris’s Net Worth, And More (Forbes)

Kamala Harris, a ‘Top Cop’ in the Era of Black Lives Matter (The New York Times Magazine)

‘You owe them an apology’: Tulsi Gabbard ripped into Kamala Harris at the Democratic debate over her controversial record on criminal justice (Business Insider)

Kamala Harris’s criminal justice reform plan, explained (Vox)

Union Boss: ‘No Way’ Kamala Harris Gets Cops’ Endorsement for Attorney General (SF Weekly)