MSNBC Analyst Blames Harris Loss on ‘Deep-Rooted Issues’ of ‘Sexism and Racism’

MSNBC political analyst Basil Smikle blamed Vice President Kamala Harris’s election loss on “deep-rooted issues” of “sexism and racism” in the country, insisting it’s “not a Democratic problem.”

Smikle joined MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera and José Díaz-Balart on Wednesday to discuss former President Donald Trump’s victory. Smikle argued that the Democratic “coalition” is stale and “frayed,” but there is also a problem of voters tolerating “sexism and racism.”

Smikle said:

“Well, a good chunk of the American voter wanted to take their country back and we will soon see what that means. There are levels of sexism and racism that clearly a lot of people in this country are willing to tolerate, which is also something that, you know, we may have not — we may have woken up in the same country in a sense, but that becomes much more clear this morning. I would also say that there were conversations for over a week, two weeks, three weeks, about how Black men weren’t doing their par. Black people did their part and everything they needed to do, including the black women who ran so this isn’t going to the point that Mike Memoli made earlier, this isn’t a democratic problem, per se because it’s not a problem that can be solved with a campaign. These are deep-rooted issues in our country that we absolutely need to address.”

Smikle pushed back on what he called “finger pointing” by some Democrats pointing to certain communities they feel did not get out the vote enough. Smikle argued the larger issue that needs to be focused on is the rhetoric of Trump, citing his recent insult against Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) where he stopped himself short of calling her a name that “starts with a B” during one of his final campaign rallies.

“Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking a lot about who is going to do their part and the folks that need to do their part did their part, but I don’t want to single anybody out,” he said. “What I do want to single out is the fact that there was blatant racism and sexism in this campaign cycle. And my question is, what are we going to do about that?”

Watch above via MSNBC.