Interviews during 2018-2020: on Civil Rights
Joe Sestak:
Military should welcome transgendered "with open arms"
Sestak's campaign website says that if any transgender Americans "are called to join and serve in the military, we should welcome them with open
arms--and a customary salute--not a cold shoulder."
Source: PBS News Hour on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 16, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Upgrade records of LGBTQ vets who were discharged
O`Rourke also says he would require the Defense Department to upgrade the service records of
LGBTQ veterans who were discharged due to their sexual orientation.
Source: CNN coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 24, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Has dealt with racism & police violence, but it's not enough
[Mayor Pete Buttigieg held a town hall after a black man was shot by the police in his home town.] "If anyone who is on patrol is shown to be a racist or to do something racist in a way that is substantiated, that is their last day on the street.
I don't want to seem defensive, but we have taken a lot of steps. They clearly haven't been enough. But I can't accept the suggestion that we haven't done anything. I acknowledge that it has not been enough. At the end of the day, I'm responsible."
Source: The Hill e-zine on 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 23, 2019
Joe Biden:
In the 1970s, I worked with opponents to get things done
Joe Biden has refused to apologize for remarks in which he praised the "civility" of an arch-segregationist Mississippi senator he used to collaborate with. The controversy began at a fundraiser: Biden was lamenting the decline of comity in America's
political culture when his remarks took a dark detour. The former vice president voiced nostalgia for his ability to partner with Southern segregationist Democrats back when he joined the Senate in the 1970s. "At least there was some civility,"
Biden said. "We didn't agree on much of anything. We got things done. We got it finished."For Biden, the remarks seemed intended to build on the narrative he's framed for himself as an old-school politician, versed in bipartisanship, who knows
how to make Washington work. Decrying the current state of affairs in the Beltway, Biden added: "Today you look at the other side and you're the enemy. Not the opposition, the enemy. We don't talk to each other anymore."
Source: Rolling Stone magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 19, 2019
Joe Biden:
You don't have to agree with opponents to work with them
In his remarks [about comity in the 1970s Senate] Biden voiced fondness for one colleague in particular, James Eastland, a Mississippi senator with a despicable legacy of racial hatred and incitement who was also a mentor to Biden in his early days in
Washington.Biden's remarks drew swift rebukes from 2020 challengers, including Sen. Cory Booker and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio--both of whom insisted Biden should apologize. Senator Kamala Harris also expressed concern over Biden's "misinformed" praise
of openly racist politicians.
Senator Eastland was an avatar of the darkest racism of the Civil Rights-era South. He championed white supremacy in language that now shocks the conscience.
Biden said, "I could not have disagreed with Jim Eastland mor
Source: Rolling Stone magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
Jun 19, 2019
Joe Biden:
Will be mindful of changing social norms & personal space
Biden's campaign launch comes after facing allegations rom women that he had made them feel uncomfortable with what was described as inappropriate touching. "Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I've heard what these women are saying,"
Biden explained in a video. "Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That's my responsibility and I will meet it."
Source: Fox News on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 25, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
If U.S. to address human rights, we need to be credible
Q: How would you cooperate with countries that view homosexuality as a crime punishable by death?A: I think it's wrong to harm or punish people because they're part of the LGBTQ community. I get that not every country is there.
In some dramatically milder respects, but still very bothersome ones, our own country is not there. I believe that this is an example of why the world needs an America that is strong, that's credible, and that people believe keeps its word.
Does anybody think right now that the U.S. has an awful lot of moral authority in the world? And whether it's LGBTQ rights or, frankly, any kind of human rights, it's really important for the
U.S. to be a credible messenger. I still believe that America can spread values related to freedom and democracy that'll benefit various minorities living in their home countries, but not if we're not credible.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 22, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Reparations are an appropriate response to country's history
I don't believe that the average American is a racist. I do believe that the average American is vastly undereducated about the history of race in the United States. Remember, that two-and-a-half centuries of slavery was followed by a hundred years of
what today we would call domestic terrorism. What do you call lynchings if not domestic terrorism? This country will not heal until we take a serious moral inventory. Racism is a character defect. Whatever it costs, it's time to do this.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 14, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Attacks on gay rights is attack on us all
I want you to know why I would support you as a LGBTQ person. I would support you because you're an American. I don't want to just talk to you as a lesbian or as an LGBTQ. I don't want to talk to somebody else because you're black, you're white, you're
gay, you're straight, you're a Jew, you're Christian, you're Muslim. I want to talk to you because you're an American. Martin Luther King said injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. What you do to a lesbian, you do to me. Stop right there.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 14, 2019
Bernie Sanders:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
At Al Sharpton's NAN convention, asked about a [slavery reparations] bill, Sanders told Sharpton that "if the House and Senate passed that bill, of course I would sign it."Sanders had been less committed to the idea of reparations in the form of
payment when asked about it on ABC's "The View." "I think that right now, our job is to address the crises facing the American people and our communities, and I think there are better ways to do that than just writing out a check," he said at the time.
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
Cory Booker:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
At Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in New York City, most of the 2020 contenders affirmed their support for a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for African-Americans.
Booker added a note of caution in his speech, telling the crowd that the conversation around reparations "cannot become just a political box-checking exercise."
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
At Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in New York City, most of the 2020 contenders affirmed their support for a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for African-Americans. "When I am elected president,
I will sign that bill." Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., told Sharpton.Elizabeth Warren said she would support the [commission to study reparations] bill as well.
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
John Hickenlooper:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
At Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in New York City, most of the 2020 contenders affirmed their support for a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for African-Americans. Hickenlooper, who began with a
longer response to Sharpton's question about the bill, offered a playfully curt "yes, I'm gonna pass it!" when pushed by a shout from the audience to simply tell the crowd: "Yes or no?"
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
Kamala Harris:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
At Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in New York City, most of the 2020 contenders affirmed their support for a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for
African-Americans. "When I am elected president, I will sign that bill." Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., told Sharpton.
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
Kirsten Gillibrand:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
At Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in New York City, most of the 2020 contenders affirmed their support for a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for African-Americans. "I firmly support congresswoman Jackson Lee's
bill," Gillibrand said. "But we must not only study the problem," she said, promising to address a range of related issues if elected president, such as affordable housing, environmental justice and the practice of redlining.
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
Asked whether he would back a House bill that would create a commission to study the issue of reparations. He said he would back the bill. "Until all Americans understand that civil rights" also involves "the injustices that have
been visited and continue to be visited on people, we will never get the change that we need to live up to the promise of this country. So absolutely I would sign that into law," he said.
Source: Associated Press, "Reparations," on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 3, 2019
Julian Castro:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
Castro, one of the most vocal candidates on the issue, said that he has long believed "that our country will never truly heal until we address the original sin of slavery.""If, under our Constitution, we compensate
people if we take their property, why wouldn't we compensate people who were considered property and sanctioned by the state?" he asked.
Source: Associated Press, "Reparations," on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 3, 2019
Amy Klobuchar:
Paper ballots allow audits, ensure election integrity
I think the major reason that we need to see the [Mueller] report right now, in addition to getting all of the details, is to know what we should do to protect our elections and to protect our democracy going into 2020.We know that Russia tried to
hack into our elections, they tried-- they did hack into campaigns -- that they spread propaganda. I want to pass my bill with Senator Lankford, a bipartisan bill, to get back up paper ballots. I want to make sure we have audits of our elections.
Source: ABC This Week 2019 interviews for 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 31, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Supports NFL players taking a knee during national anthem
[In the 2018 Senate race] Promising to visit every county in Texas, he ran his campaign as a marathon of live-streamed political performance art--road-tripping with a Republican congressman with an iPhone on his dashboard for 36 hours; then debating
Ted Cruz at Southern Methodist University. O'Rourke came off as free of political calculation, as if his charisma were a mere side effect of Beto just being Beto.O'Rourke gave an extemporaneous monologue defending black N.F.L. players who took a knee
during the national anthem to protest police brutality. Now This News packaged it into a viral video, and it rocketed O'Rourke to the national stage. CNN broadcast one of his town-hall meetings and O'Rourke's crowds ballooned. Donor contributions
poured in, peaking at $80 million, the most for any Senate campaign in U.S. history. The expanding press pack became more aggressive "to the point where they were knocking the kids and I out of the way to get to Beto," recalls Amy O'Rourke.
Source: Joe Hagan in Vanity Fair on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 13, 2019
Julian Castro:
Property was taken from slaves, so pay reparations
In an interview [at the SXSW conference], Castro criticised fellow candidate Bernie Sanders for his willingness to write "big checks" for things like healthcare or education, but being unwilling to consider reparations to African-Americans descended
from slaves. The US constitution mandates that Americans be compensated if their property is taken, he noted, so why shouldn't people who were treated as property themselves also receive compensation?"I've long believed that the country should
consider reparations because of the atrocity of slavery," Mr Castro told me. "I believe that we're never going to fully heal as a country from the racial divide until we've addressed the tremendous wrong that was done with slavery."
He said that, as president, he would set up a commission to determine an inclusive way to address "the best path forward". It will be up to those who support reparations to decide whether a "commission" is the kind of bold move they had in mind.
Source: BBC.com on 2020 Democratic primary contenders at 2019 SXSW
Mar 12, 2019
Joe Biden:
1970s: Desegregating society ok, but not via school busing
Biden's statements [opposing school desegregation] 44 years ago represent one of the earliest chapters in his well-documented record on racial issues, during which he generally has worked alongside African American leaders and been embraced by them.
Biden's spokesman said the former V.P. still believes he was right to oppose busing, noting, "He never thought busing was the best way to integrate schools in Delaware--a position which most people now agree with. As he said during those many years of
debate, busing would not achieve equal opportunity. And it didn't."
The spokesman said Biden has a distinguished history of working for civil rights and against segregation. As a young man, Biden fought to desegregate a movie theater in Delaware, and
worked as the only white employee at a largely black swimming pool. "Joe Biden is today--and has been for more than 40 years in public life--one of the strongest and most powerful voices for civil rights in America," the spokesman concluded.
Source: Washington Post, "Desegregation," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 7, 2019
Marianne Williamson:
Reparations to be distributed over 10 years by black leaders
Her signature campaign promise is a call for $100 billion in reparations for black Americans.
This would be distributed over 10 years by a group of black leaders for selected "economic and education projects."
Source: Townhall.com: 2020 Democratic primary "Candidate profiles"
Mar 5, 2019
Jay Inslee:
Statehood for DC & Puerto Rico; they deserve representation
I've always supported statehood for Puerto Rico and DC. People have got to have representation--
700,000 people in the District of Columbia is as large as Wyoming.
Source: David Roberts, Vox.com, on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 1, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
Reparations for slavery and to Native Americans
Warren expanded on an already-radical proposal on Friday, telling reporters that Native Americans should be "part of the conversation" on reparations for African-Americans -- a move that threatens to bring back her own history with Native Americans.
Asked about her support for reparations for black Americans affected by slavery, Warren highlighted the country's "ugly history of racism. We need to confront it head on." Warren had said in a statement to The New York Times this week that "we must
confront the dark history of slavery and government-sanctioned discrimination in this country that has had many consequences, including undermining the ability of black families to build wealth in America for generations. We need systemic, structural
changes to address that."
Her fellow 2020 hopefuls Kamala Harris and Julian Castro have come out in favor of reparations for African Americans but have so far not gone as far as Warren in opening the door to reparations for Native Americans.
Source: Fox News on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls
Feb 23, 2019
Kamala Harris:
Reparations means real investments in black communities
Elizabeth Warren said that Native Americans should be "part of the conversation" on reparations for African-Americans. Her fellow 2020 hopefuls Kamala Harris and Julian Castro have come out in favor of reparations for African Americans but have
so far not gone as far as Warren in opening the door to reparations for Native Americans."We have to be honest that people in this country do not start from the same place or have access to the same opportunities,"
Harris said in the statement. "I'm serious about taking an approach that would change policies and structures and make real investments in black communities."
Since reparations are in response to
African-Americans impacted by slavery, presumably reparations for Native Americans would be to make amends for crimes and abuses committed on the Native population by the U.S. government over America's history.
Source: Fox News on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls
Feb 23, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Calls for redistricting reform; questions Electoral College
Buttigieg endorsed redistricting reforms and other changes that would allow for greater representation of the public interest. "Bold changes and reforms are needed," Buttigieg said, including "things that might require constitutional action. Things like
questioning whether it really makes sense to have an electoral college, which twice in my lifetime has overruled the American people. And whether it makes sense to continue with places like D.C. and Puerto Rico denied full political representation."
Source: Common Dreams e-zine on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 20, 2019
Cory Booker:
Recognize Native Americans but no Indigenous Peoples' Day
Sen. Kamala Harris said that she would push for the federal government to rename Columbus Day "Indigenous Peoples' Day," a focal point for some progressives who say the holiday should emphasize the history of Native Americans instead of the
European conqueror. "Sign me up," Harris said in response to a voter's question of whether she would support the initiative to rename the holiday. She spoke of her own efforts in the Senate to make lynching a federal crime.
Harris's competitor, Sen. Cory Booker, was asked the same question in New Hampshire Sunday, but did not commit to renaming the holiday. "I'd like to talk more about why you think it's important on a federal level,"
Booker told voters. "My commitment to you and indigenous peoples is to tell the truth, to work to address the issues, and to find a way to have real recognition and healing."
Source: Buzzfeed blog on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
Kamala Harris:
Rename Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples' Day
Sen. Kamala Harris said that she would push for the federal government to rename Columbus Day "Indigenous Peoples' Day," a focal point for some progressives who say the holiday should emphasize the history of Native Americans instead of the
European conqueror. "Sign me up," Harris said in response to a voter's question of whether she would support the initiative to rename the holiday. She spoke of her own efforts in the Senate to make lynching a federal crime.
Harris's competitor, Sen. Cory Booker, was asked the same question in New Hampshire Sunday, but did not commit to renaming the holiday. "I'd like to talk more about why you think it's important on a federal level,"
Booker told voters. "My commitment to you and indigenous peoples is to tell the truth, to work to address the issues, and to find a way to have real recognition and healing."
Source: Buzzfeed blog on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
Julian Castro:
Protections for GLBTQ; benefits to same-sex partners
Castro also led the creation of one of the country's strictest anti-smoking laws, drafted a successful resolution denouncing Arizona's racist 2010 immigration law, supported extending benefits to same-sex partners of city employees and
, after years of reluctance, eventually supported an update to anti-discrimination protections to include sexual orientation.
Source: Jacobin Magazine on 2020 Democratic primary contenders
Feb 15, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
For LGBT rights, but doesn't presume to speak for everyone
On "CBS This Morning," no one mentioned that Buttigieg could be the first gay President. I asked whether he saw that as a measure of how quickly gay identity has become accepted. "Depends where you are. You quickly get plunged into this world where
you're supposed to represent your community," but at that point he had little experience of the gay community. "Like, I will fight for the trans woman of color, but do I really know anything about her experience because I'm married to a dude?"
Source: New Yorker magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 9, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Supports Equality Act; need better legislation
I think one of the big things that we're looking at, of course, is the Equality Act. I live in a state where it is still--not in South Bend because we took local action, but in most parts of my state it's still perfectly
legal to be fired for who you are, and I think we need better legislation, civil rights legislation that takes care of that.
Source: Washington Blade on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 5, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Trans members of the military deserve presidential support
Trans members of the military who are willing to put their lives on the line in order to defend this country deserve to be supported by their commander in chief. It's extremely disturbing, especially for someone who portrayed himself as somebody who
might change the way the Republican Party related to the LGBT community, to turn around and do this demonstrates that he was never serious about that, not to mention the elevation of Mike Pence to one heartbeat away from the presidency.
Source: Washington Blade on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 5, 2019
Stacey Abrams:
Takes a strong stand against voter suppression efforts
Abrams ran a progressive campaign advocating Medicare expansion and public education reform. After the votes came in, she refused to concede defeat, accusing now-Gov. Brian Kemp (R) of efforts to disenfranchise black voters in the state. (Kemp,
who refused to recuse himself as secretary of State during the election, has denied the charge.) She has doubled down on the cause, starting Fair Fight Georgia, an anti-voter-suppression organization.
Source: Christian Science Monitor on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 5, 2019
Pete Buttigieg:
Voters have judged his record, not his marriage
Q: Is the country ready for a gay couple in the White House?A: I think there's only one way to find out. When I came out, it was in the middle of a reelection campaign. I just reached that point in my life where I was ready. And we didn't know what
Source: ABC This Week 2019 interviews for 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 3, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Early 2000s: supported father's antigay rights group
Gabbard in the early 2000s touted working for her father's anti-gay organization, which mobilized to pass a measure against same-sex marriage in Hawaii and promoted controversial conversion therapy. During her run for state legislature in 2002,
Gabbard told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, "Working with my father, Mike Gabbard, and others to pass a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage, I learned that real leaders are willing to make personal sacrifices for the common good.
I will bring that attitude of public service to the legislature." Gabbard's father ran The Alliance for Traditional Marriage, a political action committee aimed at opposing pro-gay lawmakers and legislation that organized and spent more than
$100,000 to pass an amendment in 1998 that gave the Hawaii state legislature power to "reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples." The amendment to the state's constitution passed.
Source: CNN KFile, "Conversion Therapy," on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 17, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Actively supports equal rights on LGBTQ+ issues
[In response to her work in the early 2000s touted for her father's anti-gay organization, which mobilized to pass a measure against same-sex marriage in Hawaii and promoted controversial conversion therapy]: "Over the past six years in Congress,
I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to help work toward passing legislation that ensures equal rights and protections on
LGBTQ+ issues, such as the Equality Act, the repeal of DOMA, Restore Honor to Service members Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,
the Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Equality for All Resolution. Much work remains to ensure equality and civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Americans and if elected President, I will continue to fight for equal rights for all."
Source: CNN KFile, "Conversion Therapy," on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 17, 2019
Steve Bullock:
No safe haven for neo-Nazi white nationalists
Top Montana lawmakers warned neo-Nazis they would find "no safe haven" for a rally that could include guns planned for next month in a mountain town where white nationalists have threatened Jewish residents.The lawmakers include both Democrats and
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, recently picked by Republican President-elect Donald Trump to be interior secretary. "We say to those few who seek to publicize anti-Semitic views that they shall find no safe haven here," Zinke wrote in an open letter also signed
by Gov. Steve Bullock (D); U.S. Sens. Steve Daines (R), and Jon Tester (D); and Attorney General Tim Fox (R).
Neo-Nazis plan to march in January in the mountain ski town of Whitefish in Montana's remote and rugged northwestern reaches. The march is
to support the mother of white nationalist leader Richard Spencer. Sherry Spencer is facing pressure from community members to sell a building she owns in Whitefish because of its ties to her son and to disavow her son's beliefs.
Source: Religion News Service on 2020 Democratic primary
Dec 28, 2016
Tom Steyer:
Mike Pence alienates LGBT Americans
Tom Steyer harshly criticized Donald Trump's selection of Mike Pence as his running mate, saying the move is alienating to LGBT Americans. "I thought it was classic that Trump chose someone who had vilified another part of our community--the
LGBT part of our community," Steyer said, while moderating a panel at the Netroots Nation conference. "[Trump] went out of his way to get a vice presidential running mate who had actually gone after part of
America that he hadn't personally gone after yet."Though he's raised money for Clinton in the past, Steyer only endorsed the presumptive
Democratic nominee last month after the primary process had wrapped up.
Steyer noted that Pence was the first governor to sign a bill specifically discriminating against homosexuals. "Indiana was the first state," he said. "I think that's unconscionabl
Source: Benjamin Oreskes, Politico.com, on 2020 Democratic primary
Jul 15, 2016
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021