First Black woman senator says Harris is 'eminently qualified' to be first Black woman president

If Vice President Kamala Harris were to secure the Democratic nomination for president, she would become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to do so — and she would carry those historical firsts with her to the White House if she were to be elected as president.

Former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun, the first Black woman elected to the Senate in 1993, joined Scripps News' “Morning Rush” on Monday to discuss the historical significance of Harris’ campaign for national office.

Moseley-Braun was also the U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand from 1999 to 2001 and ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004. She recently published a memoir titled "Trailblazer: Perseverance in Life and Politics."

“She’s eminently qualified,” Moseley-Braun said of Harris. “I really want to see Kamala Harris make it through.”

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The vice president has already been endorsed by President Joe Biden and other notable leaders in the Democratic party including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

But even with a growing list of supporters , there are still some who are wary about Harris potentially securing the Democratic nomination for president.

“If you think about it, people said Barack Obama could not get elected because he was black,” Moseley-Braun said. “When are we going to stop pigeonholing people to say nasty and negative things about them? That’s crazy. The fact of the matter is she’s vice president. She can be president. She’s qualified to be president. She should be president.”

Moseley-Braun said she believes Obama should endorse Harris, but he has to make his own decision.

The former senator and former U.S. ambassador to New Zealand said Harris should be the natural choice to replace President Biden as the potential nominee for this election since she is vice president.

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She also said Harris has the support of thousands of other African American women and if Democrats switch it up and don’t follow Harris’ “natural progression” to be named the party’s presidential nominee, then it would be “a slap in the face of Black women who have supported the Democratic party consistently, all along, for years and years and years and I think that would be a grave mistake for the party to do.”

As of Monday afternoon, Decision Desk HQ reported that 690 delegates had already pledged their support for Harris. She would need a 1,968 majority to clinch the nomination and officially become the party’s candidate for the 2024 presidential election.