Vice President Kamala Harris joined Charlamagne Tha God for a town hall-style event on his popular radio program “The Breakfast Club” in battleground Michigan on Tuesday.
The Democratic president nominee’s appearance on the show, which boasts a large young Black audience, comes amid a week in which Harris has looked to shore up support within the community, including recently releasing an economic plan aimed specifically at helping Black men get ahead.
The hourlong conversation, which included questions from the public, covered a range of topics, such as decriminalizing marijuana, reparations, police brutality, engagement with Black churches and more generally, the border, the economy and foreign policy.
Harris referred to the stakes of the election as “profound and historic” and criticized her GOP opponent, former President Donald Trump, as “weak” and “unfit." She also said that nobody can sit out of this election.
"We should never sit back and say, ‘OK, I’m not gonna vote because everything hasn’t been solved,’” she said. “This is a margin of error race."
“It’s tight,” Harris added of the election. “I’m going to win, I’m going to win, but it’s tight.”
At one point, when Harris was speaking about the contrast the election presents -- which she said was a choice between one mind moving forward and another driving the country “backward" -- Charlamagne Tha God asserted Trump’s mindset was “about facism.”
“Why can’t we just say it?” he asked.
“Yes, we can say that,” Harris responded.
The vice president accused Trump and his allies of pushing misinformation about her in an effort to “disconnect” her from the community she is from when asked by a member of the public about her engagement with Black churches.
“One of the biggest that I face is mis- and disinformation,” Harris said. “And it’s purposeful because it is meant to convince people that they somehow should not believe that the work that I have done has occurred and has meaning.”
Harris on Tuesday spent a significant amount of time speaking about how her economic proposals, such as providing down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers, a child tax credit and tax deduction for startup small businesses will impact the Black community in particular.
“I am running to be a president for all Americans,” Harris said. “That being said, I do have clear eyes about the disparities that exist.”
She pledged to continue to strive to get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed and to decriminalize marijuana, something that disproportionately impacts Black men.
“I was the most progressive prosecutor in California on marijuana cases and would not send people to jail for simple possession of weed,’ Harris said on Tuesday. “And as vice president, [I] have been a champion for bringing marijuana down on the schedule.”
Asked about her stance on reparations, Harris said they should be “studied” but did not directly say whether she supports such a move.
She accused Trump's campaign of "trying to scare people away because otherwise they know they have nothing to run on."
"Ask Donald Trump what is his plan for Black America. Ask him," she added.
Harris has been on a media bllitz over the last week, which has included appearing on programs popular with particular constituencies. Last week, she appeared on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, which has a large female following, as well as "The View," "60 Minutes" and "The Howard Stern Show."
The vice president is spending the week campaigning in the key so-called "Blue Wall" states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Over the last two days, she has specifically made stops at Black-owned small businesses.