Kamala Harris warned the issue of race was seeping into national security concerns.
The senator for California and Democratic presidential candidate, 54, told the 2019 National Urban League Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, Friday the country still faced the ongoing challenge of foreign election interference aimed at driving a racial wedge between Americans by targeting specific demographics and playing into stereotypes.
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“It is a fact Russia interfered in the election of the president of the United States,” Harris said.
The Senate Intelligence and Homeland Security committee member explained how Kremlin operatives then “started figuring out well, how can we get those people, the Americans, going at each other, losing confidence in the system.”
“You know the number one thing that attracted heat? Race,” Harris said, describing how they “exposed America’s Achilles heel.” “So guess what? All of a sudden race has not only become a civil rights issue, a national security issue.”
The White House hopeful vying to become the country’s first woman of color commander in chief was alluding to work by the Internet Research Agency, a firm of professional trolls that used fake accounts to post on online platforms as a way to promote Russian interests. The group was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller as part of the federal Russia investigation.
Harris on Friday urged the crowd to counter any false information they see after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this week refused to allow votes on what the Kentucky Republican called two “highly partisan” election security bills.
“We are going to have to respond immediately because people are going to be duped into believing things that are not true,” she said.
[Opinion: Kamala Harris’s post-debate boomlet has run its course]
