FULL ANSWER: VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS ON SPRINGFIELD
“It’s a crying shame. I mean, my heart breaks for this community. You know, there were elementary school children who – it was… it was – school photo day. You remember what that’s like? Going to school on picture day. Who are dressed up in their best, got all ready, knew what they were going to wear the night before. And had to be evacuated – children. Children. A whole community put in fear.
“And I’ll say a couple things about it. One, you know I learned a long time ago in my career, having a background as a prosecutor: When you have these positions, when you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a really deep level how much your words have meaning.
“I learned at a very young stage in my career that the meaning of my words could impact whether somebody was free or in prison. As Attorney General of California, fifth largest economy in the world, I was acutely aware that my words could move markets. When you are bestowed with a microphone that is that big, there is a profound responsibility that comes with that – that is an extension of what should not be lost in this moment, this conception of the public trust. To then understand what the public trust means, it means you have been invested with trust to be responsible in the way you use your words much less how you conduct yourself.
“And, especially when you have been, and then seek to be again, President of the United States of America. And so I go back to – it’s a crying shame, literally, what’s happening to those families, those children in that community.
“Not to mention, what is happening in terms of – look, you say you care about law enforcement. Law enforcement resources [are] being put into this because of these serious threats that are being issued against a community that is living a productive, good life before this happened. And spewing lies that are grounded in tropes that are age-old.
“And look, I said it not very far from here the other day at the debate: This is not new. This is not new in terms of these tropes. This is not new in terms of where it’s coming from. And, you know, whether it is refusing to rent to people – rent to Black families. Whether it is taking out a full-page ad in the New York Times against five innocent Black and Latino teenagers, the Central Park Five, calling for their execution. Whether it is referring to the first Black President of the United States with a lie – birther lies.
“And look, the American people deserve – and I do believe, want – better than this. I do believe that. I know, I know the vast majority of us know we have so much more in common than what separates us. I know that regardless of someone’s background, their race, their gender, their geographic location, I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio, and it’s gotta stop.
“And we’ve gotta say that you cannot be entrusted with standing behind the seal of the President of the United States of America engaging in that hateful rhetoric that, as usual, is designed to divide us as a country, is designed to have people pointing fingers at each other. It’s designed to do that.
“And I think most people in our country, regardless of their race, are starting to see through this nonsense. And to say, you know what, let’s turn the page on this. This is exhausting and this is harmful and it’s hateful and grounded in some age-old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for.
“So let’s turn the page and chart a new way forward and say you can’t have that microphone again.”
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