Harris pledges to legalize marijuana as centerpiece of her policy targeting African-Americans
The Democratic campaign began its push to plug the leak of black male voters, featuring Barack Obama and announcing specific policy proposals. Harris' team is concerned that the problem is bigger: not only losing black men, but men in general.
South Carolina polling center
Black male voters are a concern for Kamala Harris. The Democratic candidate's loss of support from a once-loyal group has set off alarms within the party, which has tried to tackle the problem with a controversial plan weeks before the 2024 presidential election.
Amid shots fired at Donald Trump, such as saying that he "spent four years making Black men’s lives harder" or that he will "roll back civil rights protections for Black Americans," the proposal includes a controversial plan to legalize marijuana.
The Harris campaign claims that black men have been "overpoliced for marijuana use ... for years." For this reason, the vice president believes legalizing the cultivation, distribution and possession of the drug will improve voter turnout among this group.
The vice president not only promises to tear down legal barriers, but anticipates the birth of a "national cannabis industry," in which she promises to ensure a strong presence of black employees.
'Fully forgivable' loans
Harris also promised economic measures tailored to black voters. Among others, these include 1 million loans of up to $20,000 that are "fully forgivable" for African-American entrepreneurs. These grants will be financed with taxpayer funds.
She also pledged to create a regulatory framework to protect black men investing in digital assets such as cryptocurrencies. Harris only recently flipped her opinion on cryptocurrencies in September, replicating a Trump campaign staple.
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Criticism of Harris' plan
Republicans accused the Democratic candidate of opportunism, with Trump writing on the same day as the announcement that the "great Black population has had enough of the Fake Democrats." He continued: "They’ll be voting for TRUMP."
Some critics recalled the viral video from the Democratic primary debate ahead of the 2020 election, when then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard pointed out that, as California attorney general, Harris jailed more than 1,500 people for marijuana use "and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked."
The backlash against Harris' cannabis legalization plan come on top of those sparked just days ago by Barack Obama, who said that black men "aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president."
"[Twenty] percent of Latinos and 26 percent of Black voters rate the economy good or excellent, but the Democrats go around hectoring them that anyone who doesn't vote for Kamala is a sexist," Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance wrote in response.
Rep. Byron Donalds opined in similar terms: "Barack Obama lives in a bubble." After explaining that black men want "change" that includes economic improvements, secure cities and borders, peace, and economic improvements he assured that "that change is Trump-Vance."
Targeting male voters
Analysts note, however, that the problem with Harris is not just with black men, but with men in general. A campaign spot released Friday appeared to try to address the problem but garnered mostly negative reviews.
"Absurd," "cringe" and "ridiculous" were among some of the most frequent reactions to the video showing several actors claiming not to be afraid of women. "Who wrote this script?" wondered writer Emily Zanotti. "Have they met literally a single male human?"
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