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J.C. Watts on why the ‘race issue’ is costing Republicans Black voters

Fmr. Rep. J.C. Watts (R) Oklahoma joins Yahoo Finance to discuss the 2020 election, Sen. Kamala Harris, and how both parties are struggling to get the Black vote.

影片文字紀錄

KRISTIN MYERS: Well, we finally got a vice presidential pick from Joe Biden earlier this week, California Senator Kamala Harris. Now, Harris is both the first black woman and first Asian-American woman to appear on the ticket for a major party. So for more on this VP pick, I want to bring on former congressman from Oklahoma, JC Watts.

JC, thanks so much for joining us today. I had to start off first on this news about Kamala Harris being picked for VP. I-- I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this pick and if you think that she'll be broadly appealing not just to Democratic voters, but perhaps even Republicans who are maybe feeling a little bit dissatisfied with the Trump presidency.

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JC WATTS: Well, I think, Kristin, when you consider the question you just asked, I-- I think, first and foremost, you pick someone-- I think a candidate, a nominee, picks someone that he can first take care of home base, and-- and I think he did that with Kamala Harris, with Senator Harris. I-- I think there are some disgruntled Republicans. It remains to be seen where they'll go or where they might land between now and-- and November 3. But I think, you know, the former vice president took care of business to say, I've got to take care of home first, and then we'll grow our circle over the next 2 and 1/2 months.

KRISTIN MYERS: So I'm wondering-- you are a Republican. For those who do not know, you are the Republican congressman for Oklahoma. I'm wondering if you can speak to the issues that are most concerning black conservative voters right now, if you're hearing that they're feeling left out over the last three years in this Trump presidency, and if they're searching for perhaps another candidate that they can go with instead. And is Joe Biden, is the Biden-Harris ticket appealing enough for them.

JC WATTS: Well, Kristin, I-- you know, first of all, I don't need a-- a political party to love me, and I don't need a political party to love. But I think the-- what I look for is a candidate I think that will take seriously the African-American vote. I-- I think both parties by and large have taken the African-American vote for granted. The Democrats, I can make a strong argument that they have.

But Republicans, conservatives, I think the issue on the right is is that they do not allow an African-American to be Republican, conservative, and black. They say you've got to be one or the other. And I think it's very difficult for African-Americans to say, you expect me to denounce the experiences that I've had over the last 55 or 60-- I'm 62. I-- I remember when I couldn't swim in the public swimming pool. I remember when I had to sit in the balcony of the movie theater.

I've had six police officers pull me over at 3:00 PM in the afternoon, not 3:00 AM in the morning, but 3:00 PM in the afternoon, as a member of Congress in-- in, you know, the city that I-- I represented. And so you can't denounce or you can't separate yourself from those experiences. And I think Republicans often lose out with the black vote not necessarily with, you know, lower taxes or balancing the budget or, you know, those type of things. I think they miss the black vote because of the race issue.

I think it's been somewhat challenging over the last 3 and 1/2 years in-- in this administration to attract black voters, but that remains to be seen. And so I think both parties have had their challenges, but I-- I think Senator Harris is-- is probably going to have more sway concerning the black vote than what the Republicans currently have in their lineup.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: President Trump's stance with the [INAUDIBLE] is law and order. Basically, if mayors or governors need help, he's willing to bring in federal law enforcement. Now do you think more empathy might serve him better in terms of attracting whatever black votes he can get in November?

JC WATTS: Well, I-- I think-- and, Kristin, I-- I don't necessarily think, you know, in-- law and order, in the true sense of what that-- what that means, that that's necessarily a bad thing. But when you consider law and order and you look at, you know, Ahmaud Arbery down in-- in Georgia, you look at what happened to George Floyd, you-- you look at the protests that we've seen with Black Lives Matter, you look at the protests that you've seen in-- in the National Football League with-- with Colin Kaepernick, you know, that-- that's-- law and order doesn't necessarily fit those-- those protests.

They-- they're-- you know, Reverend-- Reverend King said back in his day, the letter from Birmingham Jail, he said he was talking to some white clergy, responding to-- to some white clergy who were being critical of him, of his nonviolent protests. And he said, you will be critical of my protest, but you will not recognize why I'm protesting. And so I-- I think, you know, when you protest, if you protest peacefully and in a nonviolent fashion, law and order is-- you know, that doesn't reconcile with peaceful protest.

And so when you talk law and order in terms of politics or using that to-- to push people's buttons, I-- I would say that's wrong. But when we're talking about law and order to make sure that peaceful protests can be carried out, that is the American way. And-- and I think we-- we can not ignore why Colin Kaepernick was-- was protesting. We cannot ignore, you know, why people are protesting in terms of what happened to-- to George Floyd.

So when you go back to your question about the black vote, I think Ahmaud Arbery was the tipping point. I think George Floyd was a turning point. And I-- I think you've seen black Republicans, black Democrats. You've seen people from the white community, from the Hispanic community. It's more than black people who-- who have stood in-- in the gap for George Floyd and what happened to him here about three or four months ago.

KRISTIN MYERS: All right, well, we'll have to leave that conversation there, JC Watts, former congressman from Oklahoma. Thanks for joining us today.

JC WATTS: Kristin, thanks for having me on.

KRISTIN MYERS: And coming up next, we will be hearing from Roger Ferguson, TIAA CEO. That's next.