Kamala Harris Delivers a Message to Donald Trump: There’s One Reason You Haven’t Been Indicted

“There was a memo in the Department of Justice that says a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime.”

Brian Cahn/Zuma

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During Kamala Harris’ opening statement at Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate, the former attorney general of California delivered a scathing message to the president, who, she said, “we all know is watching.”

“President Trump, you’ve spent the last two and a half years full-time trying to sow hate and division among us,” Harris said. “You have used hate, intimidation, fear, and over 12,000 lies as a way to distract from your failed policies and your broken promises.”

She suggested his conduct was not just hateful, but criminal.

“The only reason you’ve not been indicted is because there was a memo in the Department of Justice that says a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime,” she added, ending on a note of unity: “What you don’t get is that the American people are so much better than this and we know that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us, regardless of our race, where we live, or the party with which we’re registered to vote.”

Watch her full opening statement below:

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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