WEBVTT - Martin Luther King III & Arndrea Waters-King Talk Black Vote 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:06.840 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News. 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.560 Joining us now for more from Bloomberg's Washington, DC bureau 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:13.399 are two special guests, Martin Luther King, the third Chairman 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:15.440 of the Drum Major Institute and son of the late 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:18.920 doctor Martin Luther King Junior, and Andrea Waters King, president 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:22.000 of the Drum Major Institute. Welcome to you both. Thank 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:26.279 you for being here on Bloomberg on this election day. Martin, 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:29.160 if I could just begin with you, a Kamala Harris 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.680 has not throughout her campaign leaned into the historic nature 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:35.239 of her candidacy, not only that she would be a 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.600 woman potentially elected president, but a black and South Asian 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:41.239 woman at that. What does it mean to you as 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.040 you have spent so much of your life fighting for equality. 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:49.360 Well, I think it demonstrates that people are very concerned 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:53.920 about the issues, not necessarily the ethnicity and the fact 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:56.120 that we've had a black president and not a woman 0:00:56.240 --> 0:01:00.800 that is extraordinarily important. However, I think extand on the 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:03.440 issues is what people How is my life going to 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.520 change under your leadership? And I think she's demonstrated what 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.080 she intends to do if she becomes president of the 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:10.840 United States. 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:14.160 Arred Do you agree, because the potential to make history 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:17.440 is very compelling to some voters here when you back 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.800 off this race, that's been a major backdrop since Kamala 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:22.679 Harris reached the top of the ticket. Or is it 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.600 in fact kitchen table issues that drive people today? 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:30.280 I think it's a combination of both. Obviously, as a 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:33.240 black woman and as the mother of a black daughter, 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:36.600 it is something that we are extremely proud of to 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:40.679 have the vice president hopefully soon to be president heading 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:45.080 our country. Also, we're also at a time when women 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.920 have progressively lost rights, and so I think that you're 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.600 seeing women coming together and standing together and in fact, 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:56.760 we really might be the deciding vote in this election today. 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:01.360 Well, it certainly could be women that ultimately make or 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.760 break this thing for Kamala Harrison, although will depend on turnout, 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:06.800 and that is what both of these candidates Andrea have 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:10.200 been really fighting for in the final stretch here. Are 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.320 you confident that voters are going to be getting off 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:16.280 the couches and participating in this election. 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:23.959 Absolutely. We have spent so many weeks and months ourselves 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:26.919 out with the canvassers. We were just in North Fulton 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.280 on Friday, and I'll tell you The excitement that we 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:34.360 are seeing is something that since the announcement of this 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.880 candidacy up until now, is something that's continuing to grow. 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:42.320 And we saw that in the numbers of early voting, 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:46.440 certainly in Georgia making breaking records, and we also are 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:48.919 seeing that in early voting around the country. I do 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:52.360 think that we're going to continue that's going that will 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:53.680 uphold today. 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:56.840 Mister King, I wonder your thoughts over the past couple 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:58.400 of months some of the rhetoric that we've heard on 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.720 the campaign trail. We just opened with comments that Kamala 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.639 Harris made before the NABJ. Donald Trump had some comments 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:09.040 to the NABJ as well that questioned her racial identity, 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.480 and it's a narrative that he has pushed through the 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.079 course of this cycle. Some have called it corrosive, some 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:17.400 have called it dated, Some say it doesn't matter. 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:21.200 What do you think, Well, I think that it should 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:26.119 be irrelevant the ethnicity again of a person, it should be. 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:29.480 We maybe haven't gotten there with some people, but as 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.600 it relates to you know, black men, specifically black men, 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:37.640 I believe we are going to support overwhelmingly the candidacy 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:40.520 of the vice president to help her become the president, 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:43.120 along with a vast coalition of others. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.160 But Donald Trump has spent a great deal of time 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.520 vying for the vote of black men and talking about 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:51.040 how he is doing better with them than Republicans have 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.160 in the past. And considering, mister King that you said 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:57.280 issues are ultimately what matters here? What issue is it 0:03:57.360 --> 0:03:59.680 that there is a disconnect with at least some black 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.840 men and Kamala Harrison the idea she has put forward. 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.920 So I think when you talk about the prospect of 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:12.640 supporting UH small and disadvantage businesses, when you talk about 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.680 getting UH a loan that might be forgive forgivable. I 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:21.000 think when you talk about UH the fact that reducing prices, 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:23.760 I mean black men, like every man wants to be 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:25.960 able to take care of their families. Every woman wants 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:27.640 to be able to take care of their families. And 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:31.120 when you talk about these bread and butter issues, I 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:35.160 believe there is an opening there, there's support. I just 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:37.560 think that at the end of the day, the vast 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:40.799 majority of black UH people are going to be supportive 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:42.360 of the vice president. 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:45.640 May I also add, we also are talking about someone 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.440 who said that he won the last election, and we 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:50.680 also are talking about someone who said that he had 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:55.520 audiences that the largest in inauguration history, or audiences that 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:57.840 were larger than the March on Washington, no matter what 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:02.479 photo evidence stated to the Montrerie. So let's talk about 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.200 the facts when they come out. Let's not necessarily take 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:06.760 Donald Trump at his word. 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.560 Well, Andrea at Waters King, tell me how you would 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:12.159 describe then, some of the racial rhetoric that we've heard 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.760 on the campaign, culminating with that massive Trump rally at 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:19.680 Madison Square Garden that had jokes that we couldn't tell 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:20.080 on the air. 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:23.880 Not only jokes that we wouldn't tell on the air, 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:27.039 those are things that we teach our children that are wrong. 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:29.880 You know, I worked for many years monitoring hate groups 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:32.599 and hate crimes such as the klu Klut's Clan, Neil Nazis, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:35.760 and skinheads, and it is very alarming for me to 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.440 see the very rhetoric that we were researching at the 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:43.520 time actually now being said from the anals of some 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:48.560 of the highest levels of power in our land. And 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:53.160 also to not only see this type of these words 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.800 that are being saying, but also seeing those things being 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:59.240 passed into laws. So it is very troubling, which is 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.240 why I think that we're going to see, and we 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:06.120 have seen, such a strong standing for unity in this country, 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.159 for a path forward, for turning that page on the 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:12.000 hate and the visiveness of the past. 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.120 And let me add one thing, because the question is 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:19.919 what is sustainable? Most people understand when we are building 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:23.479 a world of peace and justice and righteousness. If you're 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:27.240 advocating vitriol, it is not sustainable. My dad would say, 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:31.080 we must learn non violence, or we may face non existence. 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:35.880 We don't want to face that. We're going to face building. 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.120 What my father and mother would say is the beloved community. 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:41.560 Well and so much, sir. Of what they were fighting 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:45.440 for was the right to vote. And obviously many more people, 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:47.480 in part because of their work, do have the right 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.039 to vote today. But given in the lead up to 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.719 this election some of the legal action we have seen 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:55.960 questions around who can and cannot be purged from voter 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:59.360 rules this close to an election, how ballots can be counted, 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.719 which ballot are valid if there are mistakes. Do you 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.600 have concerns about the right to vote being rolled back 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.080 for at least some segments of the population. 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:14.200 I certainly always have concerns I've always wondered why we 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:17.760 purge people from voting, but yet we can drive as 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:21.560 drivers forever and you're never removed from the driving roles. 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.560 If you understand the analogy. The fact is you may 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.280 not vote one year or two years, but you shouldn't 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:29.960 be removed. You still have that right. But yet we 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:33.200 orchestrate the kind of results that we want to see. 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.320 And I think those who say, let's support the John 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.920 Lewis Voting Rights Bill, which all people need, not any 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.960 one ethnic group, that's the right course. And the hope 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.760 is that Kamala Harris wins and in fact the legislative 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.120 bodies will pass that legislation. 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:50.920 For once and for all, or if there's an expectation 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.960 that Democrats will say control of the House. Do you 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.560 see some hope for the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:57.800 in Washington if that happens. 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:04.080 Absolutely. We have been working for that federal legislation for 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:09.800 years now, and we have confirmation from soon to be 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.800 President Kamala Harris that that is something that she will 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:15.080 push forward. I think, with the power of the House 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:18.920 behind her, that that will become an ultimate reality. And 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:21.760 you know that people have talked about the fact that, yes, 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.880 there's been record turnouts, that does not mean that we 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.920 do not need to secure federal voting rights once and 0:08:27.960 --> 0:08:31.880 for all. Our daughter has progressively lost rights since the 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:34.920 day that she was born. The crowning achievement of voting 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.840 that was her grandparents' legacy has been eroded. Yes, we've 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.880 had great organizers, but we should not continue to fight 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:45.240 that battle. Voting rights are birthrights and should be in 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:45.840 this country. 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.040 I want to thank you both for an important conversation 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.760 with us in our Washington Bureau. Martin Luther King the 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.920 Third or Andrea Waters King, thank you for joining us 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:56.080 today on Bloomberg TV and radio.