Black Lives Matter Calls DNC 'Hypocrites' Trying to 'Manipulate Black Voters by Anointing Kamala Harris'

As Kamala Harris is slated to become the Democrat party’s nominee for president in the wake of Joe Biden resigning from the ticket on Sunday, not everyone is pleased with the undemocratic process. On Tuesday, after she had secured enough commitments from party delegates to be awarded the nomination, Black Lives Matter (BLM) put out a scathing statement opposed to “installing” Harris. Instead, the group called for an “informal, virtual snap primary across the country prior to the DNC convention.”

In a statement, BLM outlined grievances of the Democrat Party’s tactics during the primary process including refusing to hold debates despite voter demand, suggesting this may have shown Biden’s cognitive decline in 2023. The racially-driven activist group also criticized changes to the primary schedule that disadvantaged non-Biden candidates, keeping them off the ballot and paving the way for the incumbent. BLM alleged that party elites and wealthy donors “bullied” Biden out of the race after a single poor debate performance, undermining the voices of millions of Black voters who participated in the primary.

A leader in the BLM movement, D’Zhane Parker, said:

Let us be clear: This is about the Democratic Party following a process that protects the legitimacy of any future Democratic president following this unprecedented moment. 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.

BLM went on to accuse the Democrats of “manipulating Black voters” by “anointing” Harris and an unknown vice president, without allowing voter participation, writing:

Now, 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. 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.

The statement continued, comparing the lack of an open voting process to dictatorships and oligarchies: 

We do not live in a dictatorship. Delegates are not oligarchs. Any attempt to evade or override the will of voters in our primary system—no matter how historic the candidate—must be condemned. We demand an informal, virtual snap primary now that the incumbent president is no longer in the running.

BLM also called out the Democrats’ hypocritical rhetoric about democracy, writing:

For the past few years, the Democratic Party has proclaimed that “democracy is on the ballot” in an effort to persuade Black voters to participate in the upcoming general election. They have presented this as the most serious election for democracy in our lifetimes. However, democracy isn’t just an ideal to be protected against Republicans; it must also be safeguarded from erosions within the Democratic Party. Calls for “unity” cannot come at the expense of democracy. The Democratic party, which has been the loudest in defending democracy, is now poised to commit some of the most undemocratic maneuvering to avoid listening to the will of the voters.

In a social media post on Monday, professional basketball player Kyle Kuzma wrote:

All these threats to democracy have me thinking why one party didn’t let their party vote for a nominee

BLM quote-tweeted Kuzma, writing:

We are asking the same thing brotha

We are asking the same thing brotha https://t.co/Dm3sGrwYx7

— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) July 23, 2024