Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett Explains Why Tuesday’s Debate Is So Important for Black Voters, Says Trump Wants to ‘Take Us Back to Jim Crow’ – Essence

Ahead of Tuesday’s presidential debate, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas thirtieth District) is making clear what’s at stake on this election — especially for Black voters. Recently named national co-chair of the Harris-Walz 2024 campaign, Crockett is using her platform to draw attention to the stark contrasts between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, particularly when it comes to the impact of their policies on Black communities.

“Tuesday’s debate will provide Americans, and especially Black voters, another opportunity to see the tough choices in this election,” Crockett said. “On one side, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who has delivered historic progress for hard-working people across this country in the form of millions of new jobs, record-high Black unemployment, millions in student debt forgiven, working directly to close the racial wealth gap, and more Black Americans with health insurance than ever before,” she told ESSENCE. “And you’ll also hear from her a vision for the future of our country: where Black small businesses thrive, where we focus on lowering costs for families, and where all of our rights are respected and protected,” she added.

“Then we’ll see Donald Trump,” Crockett said. “A failed conman parading himself as a businessman who always cared only about himself.” Her most devastating critique focuses on the 2025 Project, a policy agenda run by conservative think tanks that she says would have disastrous consequences for black Americans. “If given the chance, he will do more harm than good by trying to take us back to the days of Jim Crow,” she warned.

As ESSENCE previously reported, Project 2025 is an in depth plan led by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation to reshape the federal government under the following Republican administration. Overall, the 922-page document would expand executive power and roll back several protections for minorities and marginalized groups, including Black people. The plan would eliminate tens of hundreds of federal jobs, abolish the Department of Education, and deport undocumented immigrants en masse, amongst other policies.

Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, saying he knows nothing about it and had nothing to do with it. Yet many key Trump allies and former administration officials are authors of Project 2025.

“He won’t be able to hide his Project 2025 agenda, which is specifically aimed at the black community,” Crockett said.

Her recent appointment as national co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign puts her on the forefront of their fight to block Trump from returning to the White House, where she said Trump’s lack of accountability and blatant disregard for the struggles of Black Americans stand in stark contrast to Harris’ grounded, community-oriented leadership.

“One of the candidates worked at McDonald’s while she was at an HBCU,” Crockett said recently as she addressed DNC delegates, drawing sharp comparisons between Harris and Trump. “The other was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and helped his father in the family business: housing discrimination. She became a career prosecutor, and he became a career criminal, with 34 felonies, two impeachments and a porn star to prove it.”

Crockett is encouraging Black voters to tune in and see the stark differences between the 2 candidates as the controversy approaches. “We’ll see who’s the adult on stage,” she joked, referring to Trump’s history of unpredictable debate behavior. Crockett believes the reality will come out and Project 2025 shall be the ultimate nail in Trump’s coffin for Black voters.