Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett made the outrageous claim that Kamala Harris was unpopular among black men due to her experience as a prosecutor.
Crockett appeared on former NBC anchor Chuck Todd’s podcast, The Chuck ToddCast, to discuss the problems in the Democratic party and analyze why Harris lost to Donald Trump in the presidential election.
The Democrat rep cited pollsters who found that the leading issue with Harris among marginalized communities was her background as a prosecutor.
Todd pushed Crockett on her answer, asking if the hesitation around Harris’s candidacy was a resume issue instead of an identity one.
‘This disallowed her from being able to build the type of rapport of trust within these marginalized communities that have historically been targeted,’ Crockett explained.
Todd noted that Harris’s prosecutorial background has consistently been a problem in her campaigns, dating back to her primary run in 2019.
Crockett agreed that early polling supported voters’ apprehension about Harris’s resume as a prosecutor.
The Democratic representative went on to say that she tried to mend these misconceptions during her speech at the Democratic National Convention by painting Harris as one of the ‘good ones.’
Jasmine Crockett revealed on The Chuck ToddCast that she believes Harris did energize black male voters because of her prosecutorial record
Crockett said that Harris’s background as a prosecutor presented a problem among marginalized communities
Todd agreed that having a limited time on the campaign trail prevented Harris from establishing trust with voters
Crockett revealed that she was given guidance ahead of the DNC to ‘lean in’ to Harris’s prosecutor background.
‘And I’m like, “Ow hell no.” I’m like. “That is not helpful!” And so when I did it, I did a bit of a swing on it right – as a criminal defense attorney,’ she explained.
Crockett decided to frame Harris’ background as a a prosecutor that she would’ve wanted to go up against during her tenure as a criminal defense attorney.
She told Todd that she had even spoken to a prominent rapper, whose identity she didn’t reveal, who was supporting Harris but didn’t want to publicly endorse her due to her background as a prosecutor.
Crockett said that even though Democrats tried to shift the narrative around Harris’s resume, time was their enemy during her campaign.
‘I think that what had been baked in about the vice president was that she was a prosecutor. They did not know very much beyond that, and when you’re talking 107 days of a campaign, it’s kind of hard to get that across,’ she added.
‘And that’s a classic case where more time would’ve helped, at least on that issue,’ Todd agreed.
‘You want people to not fear you, but you want them to trust you. That’s what it comes down to – trust,’ Crockett concluded.
Crockett said she received guidance to ‘lean into’ Harris’s prosecutorial background for her speech at the DNC
The Democrat rep said that she tried to frame Harris as ‘one of the good ones’ in her DNC speech
She continued that voters had built up Donald Trump as a successful businessman and only knew Harris as a prosecutor.
Even though Harris won a majority of voters of color, Trump did make inroads with marginalized communities in comparison to 2020.
Exit polls showed that 77 percent of black men who voted in 2024 voted for Harris, while an overwhelming 92 percent of black women voted blue, according to CNN.
Trump also made head waves with Latino men who voted in favor of Trump, with only 44 percent casting their ballots for Harris.
The polling contrasts with Trump’s turnout in 2020, where only 19 percent of black men and 36 percent of Latino men voted for him.
Black men were cited as a critical voting bloc in 2024, prompting Harris to announce an ‘opportunity agenda for black men’ which included forgivable business loans for black entrepreneurs and funding studies on diseases disproportionately impacting black men.
