“The vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us and we need leadership in this country that recognizes that and understands that,” @KamalaHarris says when asked about racism and division stoked by Trump. #HarrisTownHall https://t.co/0EMGUsQFut pic.twitter.com/7GKKbQRw8a

During a town hall on CNN on Monday, Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris (D-CA) said that there has “been new fuel” igniting hatred in the past two years.

Harris stated, “You know, we have to speak truths about this. Racism is real in America. Sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, transphobia. These things exist in America, and we have to speak truth that they do so that we can deal with them. But we have seen in the last two years that there has been new fuel that is lighting that fire in a way that has been harmful, in a way that we have seen, when Charlottesville, and a woman was killed, that we’ve had a president who basically said, well, there were equal sides to this. We have seen what happened at the Tree of Life Synagogue. And so, we know that hate is something that in the history of our country, and currently, fuels not only dissension and division, but is — actually can lead to death. And so, we have to take it seriously.”

She continued, “The vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. And we need leadership in this country that recognizes that and understands that, and also understands it is against who we are as Americans, in terms of our values, and in terms of what we aspire to be, to ever fuel that kind of division in our country. And enough with these powerful forces that are trying to sow hate and division among us. That is not reflective of who we are as Americans, and we need leadership that recognizes who we are in our hearts and our souls, which is that we do think of ourselves and know ourselves to have more in common than what separates us. But there’s a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of work to do, and certainly, it’s going to start with the top, and not fueling the kind of division that we have seen.”

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