Kamala Harris dismissed Tulsi Gabbard’s criticism of her record on criminal justice, taking a dig at the Hawaii congresswoman’s poll numbers and accusing her of being an “apologist” for Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“This is going to sound immodest, but I’m obviously a top tier candidate and so I did expect that I would be on the stage and take hits tonight because there are a lot of people trying to make the stage for the next debate,” Harris told CNN on Wednesday. “Especially when people are at zero, 1%, whatever she might be at.”
Harris argued that Gabbard’s opinion means little to her when she refuses to call Assad a war criminal.
“I can only take what she says and her opinion so seriously,” Harris said. “I’m prepared to move on.”
Kamala Harris on Tulsi Gabbard’s comments regarding her record as a prosecutor: “I’m obviously a top tier candidate and so I did expect that I would be on the stage and take hits tonight. … I’m prepared to move on” #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/kPNYfBs2rB
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 1, 2019
The two clashed during the second Democratic presidential debate when Gabbard disparaged the California senator’s prosecutorial record.
“Sen. Harris said she’s proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she’ll be a prosecutor president, but I’m deeply concerned about this record,” Gabbard said. “She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana.
“She blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them as cheap labor for the state of California, and she fought to keep cash bail system in place that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way.”
Harris said she was proud of the decisions she made.
“When you were in a position to make a difference and an impact in these people’s lives, you did not, and worse yet in the case of those who are on death row, innocent people, you actually blocked evidence from being revealed that would have freed them until you were forced to do so. There’s no excuse for that and the people who suffered under your reign as prosecutor, you owe them an apology,” Gabbard fired back.
