Charlamagne says Harris needs to answer questions from voters: Black people shouldn't have to 'just settle'
Radio host Charlamagne Tha God scolded a rapper who claimed Vice President Harris didn't owe Black voters an explanation of her policies, arguing it was "absolutely" wrong to tell Black people to "settle" for the Democratic candidate.
"I don't understand Plies or any Black person for that matter, telling Black people to ‘just settle.’ 'Just accept whatever the candidate is giving you. Don't ask questions, just vote. They don't have to explain anything to us.' No," Charlamagne said on Monday's "The Breakfast Club."
Charlamagne was responding to a profanity-laced rant the rapper known as Plies posted online on Sunday about Black men supporting former President Trump in the election. Plies slammed these voters for criticizing Harris' record in office and argued Harris didn't need to answer questions about her policies.
"Stop asking" a "Black woman to explain theirself to you, or explain theirself to y'all," the rapper chided. "Y'all cool with a White man not explaining himself" he continued, appearing to reference Trump.
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"Plies is absolutely, positively wrong," Charlamagne responded on his podcast and radio show the next day. "If people are asking questions, that's great."
"I don't even know why Plies is making this a Black woman vs. Black men thing. This isn't about Black men and Black women. It's about elected officials and potential voters," he continued.
"The whole point of the campaign season is for candidates to go out there and explain to the American people why they should be the one in charge of this country. Votes are earned, not given. And they are earned by you going out there and explaining yourself."
The vice president has faced criticism for avoiding the press since she launched her presidential campaign. She has not done any sit-down interviews or held any formal press conferences in the past 36 days.
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Charlamagne argued that Harris is under more scrutiny about her policies because she became the Democratic nominee so late in the election cycle and because she is running for the highest office in the country.
"By the way, she knows that. This isn't the vice president's first rodeo," he said of explaining her record as attorney general and as a senator.
"Plies is a billion percent wrong," he stated again. Answering questions to voters is "the whole point of campaigning," he added.
During the Democratic National Convention last week, Charlamagne defended Harris for avoiding the press for now, arguing she was on the ground meeting voters and she'd get to interviews by the end of the month.
"I think what she's been doing has worked because you know what she's been doing is hitting the ground," he said.
"She'll get to interviews after the DNC. But, you know, this week I think she got – she's got bigger fish to fry, like going out there tomorrow and knocking a home run speech out the park," he continued.
Other media figures have celebrated Harris' strategy of not taking interviews.
Last week, several pundits and news anchors from CNN and CBS floated the idea that Harris could rely on Democratic enthusiasm to win over voters rather than lay out detailed policies.
Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.