Black Lives Matter lashes out at Democrats for 'installing' Harris as presumptive nominee

The left-wing Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization on Tuesday evening lashed out at the Democratic Party, claiming they were a party of "hypocrites" for "installing" Vice President Kamala Harris as the president's successor in the party without a vote.

Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president on Monday night, after Democratic delegates united behind her when President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday. Biden endorsed Harris shortly after his exit.

The group, which rose to prominence in 2020 for organizing "Black Lives Matter" protests over the death of George Floyd, called for the Rules committee to create a way for the public to take part in the nominating process instead of relying on delegates to vote at the Democratic convention next month.

"We do not live in a dictatorship. Delegates are not oligarchs. Installing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and an unknown vice president without any public voting process would make the modern Democratic Party a party of hypocrites," the group said in a statement, according to Fox News. "Black Lives Matter demands that the [DNC] immediately host an informal, virtual snap primary across the country prior to the DNC convention in August."

The group called the move to anoint Harris as Biden's successor a "blatant disregard for democratic principles" and claimed Biden's move to withdraw from the race warranted "decisive action" to protect democracy and "the voice of Black voters."

"Democratic Party elites and billionaire donors are attempting to manipulate Black voters by anointing Kamala Harris and an unknown vice president as the new Democratic ticket without a primary vote by the public," the organization said. "We have no idea where Kamala Harris stands on the issues, now that she has assumed Joe Biden’s place, and we have no idea of the record of her potential vice president because we don’t even know who it is yet." 

Shalomyah Bowers, a BLM leader, said the group's call is not meant to be an attack on Harris, or her qualifications for president and capability to be a leader, but is an attack on the nominating process.

"Those of us who care about the principles of democracy cannot be serious about installing Kamala Harris and an unknown vice president as the Democratic nominee without any semblance of a people-powered process," Bowers said. "Not delegates and party elites, but actually asking communities across the country if they believe this should be the democratic ticket. Anything less is unserious in the quest for democracy."

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.