President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE on Saturday hammered Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook McEnany says Juneteenth is a very ‘meaningful’ day to Trump MORE (D-Calif.) as a “badly failing presidential candidate” for skipping a forum at Benedict College in South Carolina after he was honored at the forum for his efforts to pass a criminal justice reform bill last year.
“Badly failing presidential candidate @KamalaHarris will not go to a very wonderful largely African American event today because yesterday I recieved [sic] a major award, at the same event, for being able to produce & sign into law major Criminal Justice Reform legislation,” Trump tweeted.
The president touted the bill, the First Step Act, saying it “will greatly help the African American community (and all other communities).” He also asserted that the legislation and the “best unemployment numbers EVER is more than Kamala will EVER be able to do for African Americans!”
….greatly help the African American community (and all other communities), and which was unable to get done in past administrations despite a tremendous desire for it. This and best unemployment numbers EVER is more than Kamala will EVER be able to do for African Americans!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2019
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Harris fired back at Trump moments later, touting her experience as California attorney general and saying she’s spent her career as a prosecutor and in politics fighting for justice.
“My whole life I’ve fought for justice and for the people — something you’d know nothing about. The only part of criminal justice you can claim credit for is the ‘criminal’ part,” she tweeted.
My whole life I’ve fought for justice and for the people — something you’d know nothing about. The only part of criminal justice you can claim credit for is the “criminal” part. https://t.co/ykIoNI3Y0D
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 26, 2019
The California Democrat was scheduled to speak Saturday at the 2019 Second Step Presidential Justice Forum at Benedict College, a historically black college. However, she withdrew from the event after the school honored Trump on Friday.
“As the only candidate who attended an [historically black college or university], I know the importance that these spaces hold for young Black Americans,” Harris said in a statement Friday.
“Today, when it became clear Donald Trump would receive an award after decades of celebrating mass incarceration, pushing the death penalty for innocent Black Americans, rolling back police accountability measures and racist behavior that puts people’s lives at risk … I cannot in good faith be complicit in papering over his record.”
Harris, one of two high-profile African American candidates in the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential field, announced she would instead host students from around Columbia, S.C., for a criminal justice roundtable.
Trump’s appearance at the forum Friday came days after he faced bipartisan criticism for comparing House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry to a “lynching,” with critics blasting him for invoking a term associated with extrajudicial killings of African Americans.
A White House spokesman denied that Trump’s use of the word was meant to compare his experience to “one of the darkest moments in American history.”
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The president’s broadside against Harris comes as the California lawmaker struggles to break out in polls of the crowded Democratic race.
She will be making her 13th trip to South Carolina as a presidential candidate Saturday as she seeks to gin up support among African Americans, a key Democratic constituency that makes up the majority of the primary electorate in the Palmetto State.