Politics and Current
For Black Democrats, Kamala Harris’s defeat of Trump is personal
“They were willing to risk everything,” Plaskett said of the vulnerable communities that mobilized to elect Harris, including some white allies. Unfortunately, their efforts weren’t enough to place Kamala Harris within the White House in 2025.
While many feel helpless and terrified on the prospect of a second Trump administration, Plaskett had a direct message for these voters, especially Black women – 91% of whom voted for Harris.
Since the election was called, Democrats have engaged in a blame game, attempting to make sense of not only Harris’ loss but, more importantly, Trump’s growing share of the voting electorate, including from white women, Latinos – and to a small extent Black men – who they consider were voted against own interests.
“People chose to side with someone who at least felt comfortable saying that, which clearly sent a signal to his supporters that it was not only okay, but somewhat accepted,” explained Payne, who worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016.
As Trump returns to the White House, Payne warned there might be a “very heightened level of concern for vulnerable communities, especially Black people.”
Plaskett, who served alongside Harris on the Congressional Black Caucus, stated that she believed Harris’ loss was partly a result of her identity as a girl and an individual of color. When President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, the congresswoman recalled telling others, “I trust us black women, but I’m not entirely sure what white men and white women will do.”
When the election results confirmed her suspicions, she added: “It’s very painful.”
In addition to expected hurdles in winning over white voters on account of Harris’ identity as a black and South Asian woman, Clyburn, an in depth confidant of Biden, said he was particularly concerned about black men.
Although former President Barack Obama and others were heavily criticized for suggesting that some black men wouldn’t vote for Harris because she is a girl (78% of black men voted for Harris, in response to an exit poll), Clyburn said he and other Democrats have already recognized the primary signs of some defections within the party’s second most loyal voting bloc.
“(There was) a strong feeling growing among African-American men that…the black woman was the backbone (of the party)…black men took offense to that,” Clyburn said.
Congresswoman Plaskett said that given the white vote and the small portion of black and brown voters who joined them, she didn’t consider “we have aligned interests in this country.” She added: “In order to defeat Donald Trump and white privilege, we must acknowledge this.”
While it is argued that Harris lost the election because Trump won over voters together with his message on the economy and immigration, Democrats don’t exactly buy it. While they acknowledge that the present president-elect has won the knowledge and messaging war, they consider this only tells part of the story.
In their view, Harris had a more comprehensive economic plan (backed by data) that has been proven to grow the economy. Democrats also said Trump clearly encouraged Republicans to create chaos around the difficulty quite than work with Democrats to pass already proposed laws to deal with the country’s border and broken immigration system.
Plaskett said that despite Harris being the “perfect candidate” and running a “flawless campaign against a convicted felon, twice impeached, poorly disciplined man who said he would do terrible things to people,” voters felt “They have nothing to do with it.”
Regardless of the cause, Payne expressed concerns that the 2024 election results may lead to the “potential marginalization of already marginalized groups,” akin to Black voters, Arab-American voters and Latino voters.
“I am concerned that these groups who are already marginalized… may be judged or essentially blamed en masse for an election outcome that is less targeted and more systemic,” he continued.
“I would borrow words from modern hip-hop philosopher Jay-Z and remind people that no one wins when family feuds,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist who advises on national campaigns.
“It was Joe Biden who helped bring Kamala Harris to the forefront of our party,” Seawright said, “as his running mate, vice president, and willing and able partner on the political floor and in the political dance.” floor for the last 4 years.
As they appear ahead to the 2026 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election, Democrats proceed to view Harris because the viable leader of the party.
Congressman Clyburn said he hopes Harris will “turn this obstacle into a stepping stone and provide a vision for it.”
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“I see no reason why Kamala Harris shouldn’t have a place in the future Democratic Party,” Payne said, noting that the vp “has been put in an extremely difficult position,” including having only 100 days to construct a national campaign while competing with Trump in “attention economy,” raising money and reuniting the Democratic coalition.
“I think Kamala Harris has a lot to be proud of,” he said. “You could have put a lot of Democrats there – governors, senators, former candidates, etc., and honestly, a lot of them wouldn’t have done as well as she did.”
However, Payne also stressed that Democrats must “cast a wide net to determine who in the next group of leaders is best positioned to help the party make small reforms and help it grow and evolve.”
The Democratic strategist noted that many Democrats “felt similarly concerned about the party’s political future” after John Kerry lost the 2004 election to President George W. Bush.
“We didn’t know Barack Obama was going to happen,” Payne said.
As Democrats scramble to position themselves because the opposition party to Trump, which could include regaining a majority within the U.S. House of Representatives once the remaining races are called, Payne said: “We needs to be disenchanted because I believe we all know what a mean Trump presidency will do, but I do not think we must always hang our heads as if we were helpless.
“We have the power. We represent tens of millions of voters,” he argued. “Democrats were able to oppose Donald Trump in good faith in 2016, 2017 and beyond, and I think we are well-positioned to do so again.”
Ultimately, Seawright said, “the American people have spoken.” He added: “They gave (Trump) essentially unchecked power. So we just must see what this actually means.
Politics and Current
A Washington police officer who shot a black man with his hands in the air over a stop sign, then dragged his body and slammed it into the ground, remains on the force despite an $8 million payout to his family
The city of Lakewood, Washington, has reached an agreement with the family of a 26-year-old black man who was shot thrice by an officer who claimed he was acting in self-defense.
He said Joquin died on May 1, 2020, after Officer Michael Wiley stopped him for running a stop sign. The $8 million settlement announced last week is coming to an end federal civil rights lawsuit Joquin’s parents filed a criticism against the officer, who claimed their son had lunged for a gun lying on the floor of his vehicle.
According to the lawsuit, Wiley approached Joquin’s automobile with a gun drawn and told him, “Shut up or you’ll get shot.” The lawsuit states that Joquin, as Wiley requested, had his hands up when he was shot. After the shooting, Wiley allegedly pulled Joquin out of the automobile and “threw him to the ground.”
Wiley was involved in one other expensive suit v. Lakewood in 2017. He was one in every of three officers found by a jury answerable for the death of one other young black man, Leonard Thomas, for a record $15.1 million. A post-trial settlement was reached in exchange for $13 million and a promise not to appeal.
Thomas was holding his 4-year-old son when he was shot in the stomach by a Lakewood SWAT sniper. Wiley reportedly announced “Jackpot!” Testimony shows he spoke on the police radio after Thomas was shot and later praised his colleague for taking the “million-dollar f–king shot,” according to trial testimony. Thomas bled to death, begging cops not to take his boy.
Evidence from Thomas’ trial “revealed that Wiley was an exceptionally aggressive officer who had an insufficient understanding of the use of force, was willing to use weapons, explosives and unnecessary force, and who demonstrated a striking lack of concern for life,” Joquin filed the family’s lawsuit.
Wiley remains in service. Joquin’s lawsuit alleged that Lakewood police were “unreasonable and reckless” in continuing to employ him regardless that a jury in Thomas found that he had violated the victim’s civil rights.
A previous attempt to dismiss Joquin’s lawsuit was blocked by the US District Judge David Estudillo. Wiley, the judge wrote in his August order, had a “documented history of using force against people he helped detain.”
He said there was enough evidence for the jury to find that “Joquin did not engage in furtive or threatening behavior during the encounter.”
Dawn Kortner, Joquin’s mother, he said in a 2021 interview, she never believed Wiley’s account.
“I feel like it’s overkill,” Kortner said. “He took steps he shouldn’t have taken. I believe he was too aggressive and I would like him to be held accountable for what he did. He shouldn’t receive a pension and sit at home and enjoy his children when we will not enjoy Said.
Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office Attorney Mary Robnett declined to press charges against Wiley for Joquin’s death.
In a letter to Lakewood Police Chief Mike Zaro, Robnett cited Joquin’s “unpredictable and dangerous behavior” in running a stop sign in front of police on a busy road. She also concluded that bullet trajectory evidence showed that Joquin didn’t raise his hands when Wiley shot him.
Wiley was also cleared for internal examination.
In a statement, Lakewood officials said: “Any life cut short is a tragedy and we can only imagine the suffering and pain they experience. The decision to reach an agreement was made with the best outcome for all parties involved in mind.”
Politics and Current
Without Kamala Harris in the White House, Democrats are turning to Hakeem Jeffries
As Democrats proceed to lick their wounds following Kamala Harris’ stunning defeat to President-elect Donald Trump, all eyes are on Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), whose party in Congress has little likelihood of regaining the majority in the House of Representatives.
If Democrats manage to win the House, it’s going to give the party its only hope of slowing Trump’s agenda. Jeffries, a 54-year-old congressman from Brooklyn, New York, also became Speaker of the House, making history as the first African American to hold the position, just two steps of separation in the line of presidential succession.
As Donald Trump begins to appoint members of his second administration’s Cabinet to be tasked with implementing his agenda – which incorporates proposed mass deportations, the elimination of racial equity programs and big cuts in federal spending – Democrats’ ability to play defense will probably be crucial to mitigating this. , which they see as potentially critical blows to vulnerable communities.
Democrats view Jeffries, the current House minority leader, as a key leader of the party, especially if his caucus can gain a majority. This would involve the commission’s control – which incorporates significant subpoena power – and shaping the federal budget. At the very least, it might enable Democrats to force Republicans to make concessions where possible.
As a six-term congressman known for sticking to his word, Jeffries is a respected and admired politician in the Democratic Party.
Payne said Jeffries, who represents a “generational turn” in the party, “has shown that he is a truly gifted communicator and communicator.” He added: “He has some different skill sets that other Democrats may not be able to. And I think that’s something that Democrats will really benefit from.
Payne continued if elected Speaker of the House, “(Jeffries) will become the most important Democrat in the country with any power. She is essentially taking over the mantle that Nancy Pelosi took on when she was re-elevated to speaker during Trump’s first presidency.”
But Payne cautioned that even when Democrats manage to amass a razor-thin majority in the House, it’s going to still be an uphill battle.
He noted that the caucus will include many Democrats “from districts where Donald Trump is popular.” “You still have to hold together a club that will come under cross-pressure from Donald Trump, who is more popular than he was four and eight years ago.”
At this point, Plaskett noted that Democrats would want to take a leaf out of her book as a member of Congress representing a U.S. territory.
“I have limited voting rights, so I understand what it means to punch above your weight,” said Plaskett, who said that being a political minority in Congress requires “cooperating with members of the Democratic caucus, as well as the Republican caucus when it is advantageous to do so for the interests of (our) voters.”
Policy
Democrats also see an incredible opportunity to strengthen Black political power in Washington with the elevation of Hakeem Jeffries.
“Him coming out as a black man from Brooklyn and being a major foil for Donald Trump — I think that’s important at a time like this,” Payne said.
But Congressman Clyburn cautions that Jeffries must overcome a few of the challenges Harris faced as the first woman and first person of color to function vice chairman.
“It’s a big burden that needs a lot of help to carry,” said the lawmaker who served as House majority whip and deputy Democratic leader.
“Kamala Harris suffered for this reason. I took it upon myself to check many individuals who kept telling me that she wasn’t this and he or she wasn’t that, she didn’t do that and he or she didn’t try this,” he recalled. “I’d ask them what number of women have been vice presidents before? She took office two months before you criticized her conduct.
As the first speaker of the Black House, Clyburn had doubts that Jeffries could be “allowed to get his sea legs… to master this job from day one.”
Seawright, the Democratic strategist, said Jeffries won’t only be speaker of the House but additionally leader of the entire national party, which he believes must “rebound, learn and grow as the next election cycles approach” in 2025 and 2026. The role Jeffries will play will probably be crucial “whether we win a majority or not.”
After the devastating defeat in the 2024 election, Seawright said Jeffries and other Democratic Party leaders need to rethink their message to voters.
Politics and Current
Donald Trump’s pick for deputy chief of staff sparks outrage from CNN guest and others who remember Stephen Miller’s white nationalist views
President-elect Donald Trump has named longtime adviser and anti-immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff for policy in his recent administration.
Fresh off a tumultuous election cycle, the nation’s eyes now turn to who Trump appoints to his Cabinet and keeps in his inner circles. The announcement of Miller’s nomination comes days after Trump announced that his campaign manager, Susan Wiles, can be his chief of staff.
Miller is a longtime member of Trump’s camp, serving as an in depth aide within the president-elect’s first campaign and a senior adviser in his first White House administration.
He helped shape rigid immigration deterrence policies during Trump’s first term, equivalent to separating migrant children from their parents and implementing a highly controversial travel ban on majority-Muslim countries.
Miller continued to give attention to this issue throughout the ultimate weeks of Trump’s second presidential campaign, assuring Americans of this mass deportations will probably be a top priority once the president-elect returns to office.
Miller made headlines in 2019 after he was discovered sending white nationalist literature and propaganda to news editors on the far-right news organization Breitbart. A former Breitbart author leaked over 900 emails to the location Southern Poverty Law Center revealing that several of Miller’s immigration policy proposals were modeled on extremist source material.
After Trump was removed from office in 2020, Miller founded and led the conservative organization America First Legal, which formed the premise of a broad anti-DEI movement, filing quite a few discrimination lawsuits alleging that “anti-white racism” was rampant in corporations and colleges and universities .
America First Legal was behind the litigation that led last summer to the Supreme Court’s landmark 6-3 decision declaring race-based affirmative motion college admissions policies unconstitutional.
NEW: Donald Trump is anticipated to call Stephen Miller as his deputy chief of staff for policy, in keeping with CNN.
Miller is a robust supporter of secure borders and has repeatedly called for mass deportations.
Miller says he hopes deportations will increase 10-fold to greater than… pic.twitter.com/9gSFO7vcXc
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 11, 2024
In 2021, the group also filed a successful lawsuit looking for to dam a $29 billion program for restaurants run by women and minorities from going into effect. The organization argued that this system discriminated against white-owned businesses.
Many Trump supporters reacted positively as news of Miller’s recent White House post began to spread. There are also opposing reactions. CNN political commentator Tara Setmayer bristled on the news of the nomination.
“Well, that is what people voted for. I suggest that many individuals who voted for Donald Trump return and watch Stephen Miller’s many interviews and media appearances. And you see who he’s. He is a vile man, a racist and a xenophobe, and his family has disowned him,” Setmayer said on CNN’s news program Monday.
11/11/24 10:42 ET CNN Press Room Anchor Jim Acosta @acosta With/
CNN Senior Reporter Steve Contorno @stevecontorno
Founder of the Alliance for Black Equality Alvin Tillery
CEO of Seneca Project, @TaraSetmayer
Subject: Appointment of Stephen Miller as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy pic.twitter.com/u1LcNrszRz
— Jeff Storobinsky (@jeffstorobinsky) November 11, 2024
Adding: “And that’s now who is near power within the White House, mainly number 2, next to Susie Wiles, within the ear of the president of the United States. Well, I suppose the upside is that no less than he won’t be DHS secretary or attorney general.
Miller’s role as deputy chief of staff for policy means he’ll work with Wiles and take responsibility for implementing Trump’s policy proposals.
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