On Monday, CNN hosted the first town hall of the 2020 race with Sen. Kamala Harris at Drake University.
CNN’s Jake Tapper moderated the event and at one point asked Harris about her record as attorney general.
“When you were [California’s] attorney general, you opposed legislation that would have required your office to investigate fatal shootings involving police officers. Why did you oppose that bill?” Tapper pressed.
Harris responded by defending her record.
“So I did not oppose the bill,” she replied. “I had a process when I was attorney general of not weighing in on bills and initiatives because as attorney general, I had a responsibility for writing the title and summary. So I did not weigh in. But behind the scenes, I’m going to tell you I compare my record to any prosecutor, any elected prosecutor in this country, in terms of the work that I have done to reform the criminal justice system.”
She added:
“I am a daughter of parents who met when they were active in the civil rights movement. Nobody had to teach me about the disparities in the criminal justice system. I was born knowing what they are. I made a conscious decision to become a prosecutor because I understood if we’re going to reform systems, yes, there is going to be the power that we have on the outside, and also we need to have people on the inside where the decisions are being made, which is why as the chief prosecutor, I was able to not ask permission and to create initiatives that became models.”
Harris — who announced her intentions to run for president at a rally on Sunday — concluded, “I will also say that there is so much more work to do, and do I wish I could have done more? Absolutely. I do wish I could have done more.”
Watch above, via CNN
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