Charlamagne Tha God asks Kamala Harris if Janet Jackson is ‘mad’ at her because of Michael
Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday denied a rumor surrounding singer Janet Jackson after the famous artist claimed she was not black.
The vice president responded to Jackson’s statement and subsequent controversy during a town hall discussion with Charlamagne Tha God in Detroit, Michigan.
Charlamagne asked Harris to address the social media rumor that Janet Jackson was angry with her for prosecuting her brother, superstar singer Michael Jackson.
”That’s not true on either count,” Harris said, laughing.
When asked if Jackson was angry with her, Harris admitted that she had not spoken to Janet Jackson since the controversy.
“I don’t know, I haven’t talked to her, but that certainly doesn’t apply to her brother,” Harris said.
Janet Jackson, 58, questioned Harris’ race during an interview with The Guardian in September.
“She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she is Indian,” Jackson said when asked about her reaction to the idea of Harris being elected the first black female president of the United States.
“Her father is white. That’s what I was told,” Jackson continued. “I mean, I haven’t seen any news in a few days. I was told they discovered her father was white.”
Janet Jackson, pictured during a British TV interview earlier this month, claims Kamala Harris is not black and the vice president’s father is white
Harris was born to Shyamala Gopalan, an Indian cancer researcher, and Donald Harris, a black economics professor from Jamaica (pictured together in the 1960s).
Harris identifies as black, as her father is from Jamaica and her mother is from India.
The issue became even more controversial after Jackson distanced herself from a statement issued on her behalf apologizing to Harris and dismissed the person who tried to suppress the controversy.
Harris has often answered questions about her race throughout her career, as she regularly dismisses critics who question her blackness.
The vice president spoke at length with Charlemagne about campaign issues, while the sometimes critical host asked her to clarify some online issues surrounding her campaign.
When asked about prosecuting more than a thousand people for marijuana when she was California’s district attorney, Harris denied it.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (L) prepares to speak with Charlamagne Tha God
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (R) and Charlamagne Tha God embrace prior to their town hall interview in Detroit, Michigan.
‘It’s just not true. And what public defenders will tell you around that time. I was the most progressive prosecutor in California on marijuana cases,” Harris said.
As District Attorney, Harris supervised According to the Mercury News, there were 1,900 convictions for marijuana crimes, a higher rate than her predecessor and also against legislation that would legalize marijuana until she became a United States senator.
She deplored the “targeted” talking points about her record as a prosecutor in California.
“One of the biggest challenges I face is misinformation and disinformation. And it is purposeful because it is intended to convince people that they should not somehow believe that the work I have done has happened and has meaning,” she said.
Harris also bristled at the idea that she and Biden had mishandled the border and deserved “a lot of the blame.”
“The first thing we dropped was a bill to fix the broken immigration system,” she said defensively, accusing Congress of failing to pass it.
The vice president also reiterated the idea of reparations for descendants of slavery.
“It needs to be studied, there’s no doubt about that,” she said. “And I’ve been very clear about that position.”