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Democratic Candidates Rebuke Trump at Criminal Justice Forum Democratic Candidates Rebuke Trump at Criminal Justice Forum
(about 4 hours later)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — One day after President Trump claimed he had done more for black voters than the Obama administration had, several Democratic presidential candidates spoke at the same historically black college on Saturday and issued a blistering rebuke of both the president and the event’s organizers — whom they accused of giving Mr. Trump an undeserved platform.COLUMBIA, S.C. — One day after President Trump claimed he had done more for black voters than the Obama administration had, several Democratic presidential candidates spoke at the same historically black college on Saturday and issued a blistering rebuke of both the president and the event’s organizers — whom they accused of giving Mr. Trump an undeserved platform.
Senator Kamala Harris of California led the charge, and was set to boycott the event altogether until the group that had invited Mr. Trump was removed as a sponsor. Other candidates, such as Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., said the president had a history of racist demagogy that outweighed any recent efforts at criminal justice reform, including the First Step Act that he signed into law last year. Senator Kamala Harris of California led the charge, and was set to boycott the event altogether until the group that had invited Mr. Trump was removed as a sponsor. Other candidates, including Joseph R. Biden Jr., Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., said the president had a history of racist demagogy that outweighed any recent efforts at criminal justice reform, including the First Step Act, which he signed into law last year.
The First Step Act helped thousands of federal inmates secure early release under new sentencing guidelines, but Democrats were united in framing it as an insufficient measure. They called for more structural reforms to the criminal justice system, and took aim at Mr. Trump himself, who has made exploitation of racial grievance a trademark of his political brand. The First Step Act was a bipartisan bill that helped thousands of federal inmates secure early release under new sentencing guidelines, but Democrats were united in framing it as an insufficient measure. They called for more structural reforms to the criminal justice system, and took aim at Mr. Trump himself, who has made exploitation of racial grievance a trademark of his political brand.
“I find it hypocritical of him to tout whatever advances have been made in the First Step Act given his history,” Ms. Harris said. “The hypocrisy is deafening.” “I find it hypocritical of him to tout whatever advances have been made in the First Step Act given his history,” Ms. Harris said. “The hypocrisy is deafening.” Mr. Biden spoke last, and joked to an audience that had been there for most of the day that they probably felt “incarcerated” themselves. He arrived and left to applause.
In the Democratic primary, black voters play a key role in determining the party’s nominee, and South Carolina specifically will play a key role in choosing the next Democratic standard-bearer. The state votes fourth in the nomination process and has a Democratic electorate that has more than 60 percent black voters. With that in mind, candidates — white and black — have made appealing to black voters a key part of their 2020 pitches. “I’ve done a lot of work on this,” Mr. Biden said. He made few mentions of his decades-long effort to revamp the country’s criminal justice system. The legislation has been criticized for leading to an explosion of the country's prison population, with particular effects for nonwhite communities.
This includes introducing proposals about criminal justice reform, but also infusing more traditional “kitchen table” issues with a view of racial equity. “It’s not to let people out of jail,” Mr. Biden said. “You have to let them out of jail and have access to housing and give them programs available to keep them out of the criminal justice system.”
“It’s not going to take Kim Kardashian coming to the White House to expunge people’s records,” said Mr. Booker, referencing Mr. Trump’s close relationship with the reality television mogul who has taken up criminal justice reform in recent years. In the Democratic primary, black voters play a vital role in determining the party’s nominee, and South Carolina will be especially important. The state is fourth in the nomination process and black voters make up more than 60 percent of the Democratic electorate. With that in mind, candidates — white and black — have made appealing to black voters a key part of their 2020 pitch.
Mr. Buttigieg said the president had inflamed racism and that it must be rooted out from the country’s core. Mr. Buttigieg has soared to the top tier of the Democratic field, but has struggled to shake a reputation that his campaign has neglected outreach to black voters. Polling shows that Mr. Biden remains the overwhelming favorite of black voters and the pacesetter in South Carolina. Other candidates have struggled to make inroads, and have leaned on a policy-first message to prove their bona fides to the black community.
On Saturday morning, he announced a new criminal justice plan to debut at the forum that called for reducing the incarcerated population nationwide by 50 percent and diversifying the judiciary, among other goals. This includes introducing proposals about criminal justice reform, but also infusing more traditional “kitchen table” issues with a view of racial equity. In the presidential announcement video of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, for example, she mentioned the black-white economic wealth gap.
“I believe that if we do not destroy white supremacy in our lifetime, it could well destroy the American project in our lifetime,” Mr. Buttigieg said in a speech. And Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey was among the first candidates to propose not only legalizing marijuana but expunging records of past offenders.
Saturday marked the second day of the three-day event, billed as the “Second Step Presidential Justice Forum.” Mr. Trump opened the session with keynote remarks Friday, and leading Democratic presidential candidates will speak later on Saturday and on Sunday, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. “It’s not going to take Kim Kardashian coming to the White House to expunge people’s records,” said Mr. Booker, referencing Mr. Trump’s close relationship with the reality television mogul who has taken up the cause of criminal justice reform in recent years.
The day began with a blast from Mr. Trump, who attacked Ms. Harris for announcing she would skip the panel in protest of him receiving an award from the event’s organizers. In a tweet, Mr. Trump called her a “badly failing presidential candidate” and added that the First Step Act and what he described as “the best unemployment numbers EVER” were “more than Kamala will EVER be able to do for African Americans!” Mr. Sanders also recently announced a proposal to legalize marijuana. In his speech, he called for Democrats to rethink their relationship to the carceral system altogether.
“The primary goal of a criminal justice system should not be punishment, but whenever possible, rehabilitation,” Mr. Sanders said.
Saturday marked the second day of the three-day event, billed as the “Second Step Presidential Justice Forum.” Mr. Trump opened the session with keynote remarks Friday, and leading Democratic presidential candidates spoke throughout Saturday and will continue on Sunday, when Senator Warren, former cabinet secretary Julián Castro and Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii will appear.
On Saturday morning, Mr. Buttigieg announced a new criminal justice plan. It called for reducing the prison population nationwide by 50 percent and diversifying the judiciary, among other goals.
Mr. Buttigieg has soared to the top tier of the Democratic field, but has struggled to overcome a reputation that his campaign has neglected outreach to black voters. In his speech, he said the president had inflamed racial division and that it must be rooted out from the country’s core. He also said his own experience as a gay man in America had helped him learn about structural barriers, implicit biases, and discrimination.
“I believe that if we do not destroy white supremacy in our lifetime, it could well destroy the American project in our lifetime,” Mr. Buttigieg said in his address.
Mr. Trump’s visit on Friday, his first to the campus of a historically black college since being elected, created a surge of interest in the event and threatened to overshadow many of the Democratic candidates. On Saturday, Mr. Trump again placed himself in the middle of the tumult: He attacked Ms. Harris in a morning tweet, calling her a “badly failing presidential candidate” and added that the First Step Act and what he described as “the best unemployment numbers EVER” were “more than Kamala will EVER be able to do for African Americans!”
Ms. Harris responded with a tweet of her own, saying, “My whole life I’ve fought for justice and for the people — something you’d know nothing about.”Ms. Harris responded with a tweet of her own, saying, “My whole life I’ve fought for justice and for the people — something you’d know nothing about.”
Ms. Harris and Mr. Booker both criticized the group that had organized the three-day event, a coalition of black Democrats and Republicans called the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center. The group on Friday gave Mr. Trump a criminal justice award and the opportunity to speak in front of a handpicked audience at Benedict College that largely excluded students. The back and forth became the talk of campus Saturday, as Ms. Harris and Mr. Booker both criticized the group that had organized the event, a coalition of black Democrats and Republicans called the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center. The group on Friday gave Mr. Trump a criminal justice award and the opportunity to speak in front of a handpicked audience at Benedict College that largely excluded students — prompting the threat by Ms. Harris to boycott the forum.
“Once I heard that Trump received an award at the Second Step Presidential Justice Forum and stopped HBCU students from attending, I decided to do my own criminal justice reform event tomorrow instead,” said Ms. Harris, who kicked off the backlash. “I won’t be complicit in papering over his record.” “Once I heard that Trump received an award at the Second Step Presidential Justice Forum and stopped HBCU students from attending, I decided to do my own criminal justice reform event tomorrow instead,” she said. “I won’t be complicit in papering over his record.”
Ms. Harris later announced she would rejoin the forum, after the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center had been removed as an event sponsor. Mr. Booker criticized the group for inviting Mr. Trump and presenting him with the award. Ms. Harris later announced she would rejoin the forum, after the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center had been removed as an event sponsor. Mr. Booker said he felt the event was too important to miss, but criticized the group for inviting Mr. Trump and presenting him with the award.
“Donald Trump was given a platform unchecked for close to an hour,” Mr. Booker said. “The Bipartisan Justice Center allowed him to create some illusion of support from this community when, in fact, he excluded it.”“Donald Trump was given a platform unchecked for close to an hour,” Mr. Booker said. “The Bipartisan Justice Center allowed him to create some illusion of support from this community when, in fact, he excluded it.”
The actions of the race’s two black senators reverberated across the local community here and with H.B.C.U. leaders across the country.
Some praised Ms. Harris for taking a stand.
Others, including some Benedict College alumni and black politicians who helped organize the event, felt Ms. Harris drew negative attention to the college as it was striving to gain national attention.
De’Keither Stamps, who helped stage the event and is the president of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, said he was disappointed the controversy over Mr. Trump’s appearance distracted from the forum’s substance.
If Ms. Harris had boycotted the event altogether, he said, she would have been at risk of losing good will with black officials. He was glad a compromise was found.
“All’s well that ends well,” Mr. Stamps said. “My mom even got a picture with her.”