The left-wing group Black Lives Matter is on the attack against efforts to install Vice President Kamala Harris as the anointed Democratic choice of 2024 and demanding the Democratic National Convention “to create a process that allows for public participation in the nomination process, not just a nomination by party delegates.”
The band, best known as the organizing front behind nationwide protests that erupted after George Floyd’s killing, said in a statement Tuesday: “a 24-hour process of talking to party bosses is not democratic, nor is it a process Democrats should be proud of.”
President Joe Biden was called upon to withdraw from the race after facing weeks of internal party pressure since his disastrous debate performance last month. He resisted those calls, insisting he was in it to win.
With Biden recently dropping out of the race, supporters from the Democratic Party jumped to Vice President Kamala Harris.
But Black Lives Matter, a movement that generally supports Democrats, has come out against it.
“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.
“Black Lives Matter demands that the [DNC] immediately host an informal, virtual snap primary across the country prior to the DNC convention in August.”
“We call for the Rules Committee to create a process that allows for public participation in the nomination process, not just a nomination by party delegates. The current political landscape is unprecedented, with President Biden stepping aside in a manner never seen before. This moment calls for decisive action to protect the integrity of our democracy and the voices of Black voters,” it said.
The group also said, “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.”
“This blatant disregard for democratic principles is unacceptable. While the potential outcome of a Harris presidency may be historic, the process to achieve it must align with true democratic values,” it continued.
“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.”
