Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., elicited the ire of Donald Trump Jr. with their comments on allowing convicted felons, including terrorists and sex offenders, to vote from jail during their Democratic presidential candidate town halls with CNN on Monday.
“If somebody commits a serious crime, sexual assault, murder, they’re going to be punished,” Sanders said. “They may be in jail for 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, their whole lives. That’s what happens when you commit a serious crime. But I think the right to vote is inherent to our democracy. Yes, even for terrible people.”
“So, I believe that people commit crimes, they pay the price. They get out of jail, I believe they certainly should have the right to vote. But I believe even if they’re in jail, they’re paying their price to society, but that should not take away their inherent American right to participate in our democracy,” he added.
When asked about Sanders’ answer, Harris said she would be open for a discussion on it.
In response, Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, tweeted how they seem to care more about people who are already in jail than the “civil rights of law abiding American citizens who legally own guns”:
What does it say about the modern-day Democrat Party that @BernieSanders and @KamalaHarris seem more concerned about giving mass murderers like the Boston Marathon Bomber voting rights, than protecting the civil rights of law abiding American citizens who legally own guns?
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 23, 2019
During her town hall, Harris said, if elected as president, she would give Congress 100 days to “get their act together and have the courage to pass reasonable gun safety laws.” If they do not meet her deadline, she said she would “take executive action.”
