Kamala Harris praised ‘defund the police’ movement in June 2020 radio interview

CNN —

Vice President Kamala Harris voiced support for “defund the police” in a radio interview in June 2020 amidst nationwide protests for police reform, just months before denouncing the movement after she had joined the Biden presidential campaign.

Harris said in the June radio interview the movement “rightly” called out the amount of money spent on police departments instead of community services such as education, housing, and healthcare, emphasizing that more police did not equate to more public safety.

“This whole movement is about rightly saying, we need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities,” Harris said on a New York-based radio program “Ebro in the Morning” on June 9, 2020, adding that US cities were “militarizing police” but “defunding public schools.”

Kamala Harris said "defund the police" movement "rightly" questioned size of police budgets

Harris said in the June radio interview the movement “rightly” called out the amount of money spent on police departments instead of community services such as education, housing, and healthcare, emphasizing that more police did not equate to more public safety.

Source: Hot 97/Ebro in the Morning

Harris made her comments just weeks after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer galvanized the “defund” movement among progressive activists. At the time, Harris was six months removed from ending her own presidential campaign and was still two months away from being tapped as Joe Biden’s vice presidential nominee.

In an interview a day earlier, Harris also lauded Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for his decision to slash $150 million from the police budget and move it into social services.