Speaking on CNN News Central on Friday, Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said that Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris has previously praised efforts to defund the police, adding, “She doesn’t just say more police will solve crime. She believes we have to invest in many aspects of social stability.” [the] “Community. I just helped secure funding for a police-community partnership in my district in Saginaw, Michigan. Money flows both ways. I think that’s what the Vice President was saying, at least as I recall the discussion at the time.”
Co-host John Berman said:[S]He talked about the movement to defund the police, and she said that that movement was a legitimate call to reassess budgets and priorities, and I want to emphasize that a little bit more.”
They then aired a clip of Harris saying:[P]”One of the things we need to do here is look at the militarization of police departments and the type of funding that’s being spent on them and we need to demilitarize police departments,” he said. “The idea that more police officers will make us safer is outdated, it’s actually false and it’s outdated.”
Berman added, “This is the kind of thing Republicans have already highlighted this week, calling her a San Francisco liberal. How do you think she should respond to this?”
Kildee responded: “I think there are two key ways. One is to point out that the Biden-Harris Administration has significantly increased funding for local police. But around the time that interview took place, there were a lot of similar conversations happening across the country, including in my district. And the discussion was: We can’t rely on police alone to address our crime and violence problems. Even police leaders say the whole community needs to be involved. So I remember that discussion. It was mostly focused on how we need to invest in different aspects of stability, not just say more police will solve our crime problems.” [the] “Community. I just helped secure funding for a police-community partnership in my district in Saginaw, Michigan. Money flows both ways. I think that’s what the Vice President was saying, at least as I recall the discussion at the time.”
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