Your support helps us to tell the story
Vice President Kamala Harris revealed she checked in on rival Donald Trump following the second assassination attempt against the Republican nominee.
The Democratic presidential candidate recounted her discussion with the former president while speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon.
“I checked on him to see if he was okay, and I told him what I have said publicly: There is no place for political violence in our country,” Harris said. “I’m in this election, in this race, for many reasons, including to fight for our democracy. And in a democracy, there is no place for political violence.”
Officers arrested Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, on Sunday for allegedly aiming an SKS-style rifle through the bushes at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while the former president was golfing.
The 58-year-old lurked in the bushes for nearly 12 hours beforehand, officials claimed after his arrest. Routh appeared in court on Monday and faces two gun-related charges.
President Joe Biden also condemned the incident on Sunday.
“I am relieved that the former President is unharmed,” the president said. “There is an active investigation into this incident as law enforcement gathers more details about what happened. As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country.”
Biden revealed the next day that the Secret Service “needs more help.”
“Congress should respond to their needs if they in fact need more service people,” he said.
At Tuesday’s event, Harris also condemned Trump’s false claim that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
“I mean, my heart breaks for this community,” Harris told the National Association of Black Journalists. “So, there were children, elementary school children. It was school photo day. You remember what that’s like going to school on picture day? They 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.”
Several schools in Springfield have evacuated students due to threats surrounding the rumors. A bomb threat on Thursday forced the evacuation of city hall and two schools. Local officials said the threat explicitly “used hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in our community.”
Then, on Monday, continued threats caused two more schools in Springfield to evacuate while two nearby college campuses moved classes online and canceled on-campus events.
“I bet it’s a crying shame, literally, what’s happening to those families, children in that community,” Harris continued.
Gerren Gaynor, one of the event moderators, also asked Harris about her message to “young Black male voters who feel left out of this economy.”
The vice president said she “appreciates the spirit of the question” but warned against “the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket.”
“Black men are like any other voting group,” Harris said. “You have to earn their vote. So, I’m working to earn the vote, not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black, but because the policies and the perspectives that I have understands what we must do to recognize the needs of all communities.”
Trump also spoke to the National Association of Black Journalists in July. During that discussion, he questioned Harris’s racial identity and falsely claimed she “happened to turn Black” recently.
“I didn’t know she was Black,” Trump said. “She happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black? ... I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.”
When CNN asked about Trump’s comments a month later, Harris quickly responded: “Same old, tired playbook. Next question, please.”
