A Michigan-based Democratic activist is calling out Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign Failing to win over black voters Mitton focused on the issue of abortion rather than the economy in the state – and relied on “corrupt” local officials, “fake civil rights leaders like Al Sharpton” and Hollywood stars to spread his message.
Arthur Woodson – a Flint resident who has met Harris, 60, and has been involved with the Biden White House Part of its “Cancer Moonshot” initiative — The Democratic nominee’s team was criticized for its messaging and lack of ground game in the Michigan loss during a phone interview with The Post on Thursday.
According to Woodson, the Harris-Walz campaign ignored how President-elect Donald Trump and the Republicans Connecting with Black voters and others Ethnic groups in Flint on what they consider the number one issue in the 2024 election: the economy.
Other local issues were also given less importance by the Democratic team, Woodson said.
“When she (Harris) came to Flint, she didn’t say anything about waterNothing,'” said Woodson, who has advocated for a federally funded study to explore the link between lead-contaminated water and cancer in his hometown. “Then you had people saying that she was not coming up with a plan for the African-American community. What will she do for us?”
He added, “Then you had people talking about the time when she was a DA and a prosecutor (in California) and she put a lot of black people in jail.”
“People are tired of the Democrats,” Woodson said at another point. “Because they come into power and abuse power. But you want to tell us that Republicans are racist? No. No. This is the Democratic Party.”
According to Woodson, the Democrats’ abortion-focused campaign was also baseless – even with the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Nationwide legalization of this procedure was overturned just two years ago,
“President Trump said to them (at the debate), ‘Hey, we overruled Roe v. Wade, but let the people of the states sort it out,'” he explained. “In Michigan, it is legal to have an abortion. So why are you focusing on that here in Michigan?
In Genesee County, which includes Flint and other townships, Trump lost to Harris but won more than 5,000 votes from yourself 2020 Election defeat to President Biden.
Woodson first shares some of her strongest thoughts on the Harris campaign’s failures In an hour long Facebook livestream Wednesday morning after Trump’s projected victory.
He declared, “I’m telling you all what I see and hear on the streets, and that’s why the Democratic Party can’t win anymore.” “People in the hood, man, all you get now is a little grocery bag full of food. People don’t want to hear anything else other than this. … Gas (prices) are high as hell.”
“But he chose to speak primarily about abortion,” she said. “His team was a scrappy team, man. His team was a donkey-backward team. …They were in an echo chamber.
In a high-profile prank, both the Harris campaign and Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer denounced Howell, located about halfway between Detroit and Lansing, as “aKKK city Before Trump’s rally there in August — despite Biden also visiting the city in 2021.
“Man, they said Trump liked weak women around him,” Woodson also quipped, another attack line used on the former president. “In fact, there was a whole group of weak, vulnerable men around him.”
Woodson told The Post that Harris’ campaign also failed on the second most important issue to most voters — immigration.
He said, “All the black people in Chicago — it’s all over Facebook, that they’re fighting because, you know, illegal immigrants are getting money and they’re taking resources away from people in that community.”
He said, “I still throw water, I still distribute food (to underprivileged people) – and I started seeing huge numbers of foreigners in line… where they couldn’t even speak English.” “Then, when I knock on doors, they’re in houses that are being renovated, but here in Flint people can’t even get their roof done.”
Harris cast the tie-breaking vote for Biden’s American Rescue Plan in 2021, which Woodson pointed out included just $94.7 million for Flint residents.
“You bring in more people with money, and then what I see is they’re coming to Michigan, taking housing vouchers, and then they’re going – going back to Florida, taking vouchers,” He said. Immigrants are receiving tens of billions of dollars in federal subsidies across the country for housing and health care.
“And they didn’t motivate people, and then they were sending money to the city and the people they hired to come out here and organize the ground game here – they were keeping the money and not doing what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to do it,” he added.
Woodson also accused the campaign of failing to deploy or even pay multiple campaigners in Flint to deliver its message, resorting to celebrity endorsements and fly-in visits from outside black leaders.
He recalled, “I kept calling the campaign (and saying), ‘Hey, listen…this doesn’t even seem like a presidential election year.’ “You didn’t have anyone going door to door to hand out literature for Harris … and I don’t even know who was at her headquarters in downtown Flint because you didn’t see them.”
“How in the world can you be in a Democratic city and Trump has more yard signs than Vice President Harris?” he asked. “The community never knew… what the game plan was, I mean, nobody knew anything.”
“He didn’t treat people,” Woodson continued. “He dealt with all these fake, corrupt elected officials and fake civil rights leaders like Al Sharpton, brought them to Flint.”
“Let no one trust him, let no one like him – keep him away from me. … He doesn’t excite anybody here,” the Flint worker said of the MSNBC host, adding: “People are tired of seeing actors and actresses and all these other people.”
Detroit rapper Eminem was one of several celebrities who helped prepare for Harris’ rally in the Motor City during the final weeks of the campaign.
In both his post interview and Facebook livestream, Woodson also rejected the selection of Harris as his running mate. Minnesota Gov. Tim WalzSaying that, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro would have helped him secure at least one blue wall state.
“Shapiro was held back. Woodson said in a livestream of the Keystone State governor, a Jewish official, that Shapiro was absolutely calm. was reportedly passed out of fear that the Democrats will Isolate anti-Israel activists,
According to Woodson, Walz was “very happy” and “seemed like he would invade your space if you were talking to him.”
He joked about the anticipated conversation with the Minnesota governor, saying, “You’ve just got to step back a little bit, man, and be like, ‘Hey man, listen, OK, calm down, calm down, buddy.’
“By comparing them in the debates and all that, (Vice President-elect) J.D. (Vance) got it,” he said of the Ohio Republican senator and Trump’s running mate.
Not above ticket-splitting himself, Woodson revealed he also voted Tuesday for Michigan GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers — who was projected for the post. Lost by a narrow margin to Democratic Representative Elissa Slotkin – Because Rogers cared about veterans’ disability issues and helped African-Americans with housing issues in Flint.
“Vice President Harris lost because it was believed that Vice President Whitmer would be,” Woodson claimed in his livestream, referring to Biden’s first choice for a potential 2020 running mate.
“I heard so (Former Michigan Democratic Representative) Brenda Lawrence And, you know, different people … said (to Biden), ‘Hey, if you don’t elect Vice President Harris, we’ll take our vote elsewhere or not vote at all,'” he told The Post. Told to.
Woodson said of Whitmer’s mental state after the election, “I think she’s feeling good.” “Now he won’t have to wait for eight years. She can now wait four years and be ready to run for president (in 2028).
Despite criticism of Harris and her campaign, Woodson had good words for the veep herself.
“When she first ran, she came to Flint and I sat down with her … and told her what was happening, what was happening with the water,” he said. “She said, ‘If I get to the office, I promise you I’ll come back and help you with this water and cancer study.'”
“As soon as she won, she came back to Detroit,” he said. “I met him. …He kept his word and that’s why I voted for him.”
Alyssa Bradley, Michigan communications director for the Harris-Walz campaign, as well as the national campaign and the Michigan Democratic Party did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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