Harris touts legalization of marijuana stance to court Black men

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday touted her support for legalizing marijuana, explicitly tying the issue to her effort to get support from Black voters in a social media post that drew immediate pushback.

Harris posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, a call to legalize recreational marijuana and specifically said the policy would help Black men.

“Breaking down unjust barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back and making sure Black Americans have opportunities to succeed as the market place takes shape,” Harris said, adding that "no one should go to jail for smoking weed."

One commenter on X remarked, “All Black People DON'T smoke weed...Other races smoke weed too; I don't think you understand how insulting this post is!”

The more common pushback, though, came from critics pointing out that Harris actively prosecuted marijuana-related crimes during her time as attorney general in California.

Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard helped end Harris’ presidential campaign in 2020 by bringing up this very issue at the Democratic debate.

“Now Senator Harris says she’s proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she’ll be a prosecutor president, but I’m deeply concerned about this record,” Gabbard said at the debate.

“She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard continued, referring to Harris laughing when admitting she smoked weed during an interview on The Breakfast Club.

Fact-checkers later pushed back on that number, but Harris' tough-on-crime stance while in California and her prosecution of marijuana-related offenses is indisputable.

Harris comments come after The Center Square Voter’s Voice poll showed that Harris is getting less support from likely Black voters than former President Barack Obama, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and President Joe Biden.

As The Center Square previously reported, Harris received 79% support among Black voters in the national survey while former President Donald Trump received 16% support from likely Black voters.

Harris’ 79% support is significantly lower than the three former Democratic presidential candidates, which could be a factor in the very close presidential race.

Obama received 95% of the Black vote in 2008 while former Secretary of State and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton received about 91% support in 2016, and Biden received 92% support in 2020.

In an apparent effort to close the gap, Harris also posted on Monday about “creating an opportunity agenda for black men,” another attempt to court the demographic.

The post also said Harris would “provide 1 million loans that are fully forgivable up to $20k for Black entrepreneurs and others to start a business” and “support education training, and mentorship programs that lead to good-paying jobs for Black men, including pathways to become teachers.”

She also pledged to “protect cryptocurrency investments so Black men who make them know their money is safe” and “launch a national health initiative focused on the illnesses that disproportionately impact Black men.”

Obama chided Black men in a speech last week for their hesitancy to support Harris.

​​“Now, I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers,” Obama said, referring to the lower support for Harris among Black men.