One of the people Vice President Kamala Harris called last Sunday after President Biden dropped out of the race was her pastor and mentor, the Rev. Amos Brown, who has a history of making inflammatory comments about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and other hot-button topics.
Harris, 59, has long praised Brown, 83, a prominent civil rights activist, despite some of her past controversial comments.
“America, what have you done to create this situation?” he said just six days after speaking at a memorial for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. According to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“What have you done, intentionally or unintentionally, in the world order, in Central America, and in Africa where bombs are still exploding?” he continued.
The audience at the time included notable California figures such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who appeared deeply troubled by his remarks.
Pelosi later used her speaking time to criticize Brown, stating bluntly that “the terrorist acts of September 11th threw people off the path of civilized behavior. We are not responsible for that.”
Brown is the pastor of Third Baptist Church in San Francisco and has known Harris for at least a quarter century.
“She told me, ‘Pastor, I called because I wanted you to pray for me. [my husband] Doug, this country,’ and finally, she said, ‘And this race in which I’m going to run for president,'” Brown said recently. Revealed They shared their call last week with Sojourners, a Christian publication.
“We exchanged pleasantries and I congratulated her and prayed that she would be a great president. She was very gracious and thanked me for my time,” he further recalled.
A source familiar with the matter previously told The Post that Harris “spent more than 10 hours on calls Sunday to more than 100 party leaders, members of Congress, state governors, union leaders and advocacy and civil rights leaders.”
Brown also served on the California Reparations Task Force, which was convened in 2020 to look into the issue. Guaranteed payments to descendants Using billionaires’ money to make slaves work.
2021, Brown vent “I know America. America is a racist country,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.
of First reported by the Washington Free Beacon This story.
It’s not entirely clear whether Harris was aware of Brown’s past comments. The Washington Post has reached out to the Harris presidential campaign, which recently rebranded, for comment.
Despite Brown’s past inflammatory comments, Harris has supported his longtime pastor and regularly praised him publicly.
There was him One of her customers At the 2021 inauguration ceremony.
“If I may, I would like to take a moment and speak as a personal privilege about Dr. Brown. He has been with me every step of this journey, going back nearly 20 years since I first considered running for public office.” Harris made the remarks at the 2022 NAACP National Convention.
“He was a voice of leadership, more leadership, leadership in our country. So, Dr. Brown, thank you for everything. All of you,” she added.
“It is always an honor to spend time with my pastor, Rev. Amos Brown of Third Baptist Church of San Francisco,” she wrote in an Instagram post with Rev. Brown last year.
The Post has reached out to Third Baptist Church for comment.
In 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama faced fierce backlash against his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, after excavated portions of his old sermons included one in which Wright declared, “Far from God bless America, God is going to kill America.”
President Obama later condemned Wright’s preaching but refused to condemn him personally.
Harris is currently the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, with enough delegates backing her to become the party’s standard-bearer.
She is now in a race against time to vet and select her running mate, with Democrats due to hold a virtual roll call by August 7 to formally choose a candidate.
