After Speaking With Kamala Harris, Rickey Smiley Has a Message for Undecided Voters

The comedian and radio show host told The Root he hopes voters will research the Vice President's policy positions and make an informed choice.

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JULY 07: Rickey Smiley attends the 2024 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ Presented By Coca-Cola® at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 07, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JULY 07: Rickey Smiley attends the 2024 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ Presented By Coca-Cola® at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 07, 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Photo: Marcus Ingram (Getty Images)

With just over 30 days before the 2024 presidential election, Vice President Kamala Harris continues to make the case for her campaign. Although 84 percent of Black registered voters say they would vote for the Vice President if the election were held today, according to a Pew Research study, she’s doing everything she can to bring Trump supporters and undecided voters on board as well.

While on a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Harris took time to call into “The Rickey Smiley Morning Show” on September 10 to address the show’s millions of listeners in over 60 cities around the country.

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In her conversation with Smiley, Harris laid out her economic vision for the country, including her plans to provide first-time homebuyers with down payment assistance, a child tax credit and a comprehensive plan to support the launch of new small businesses. The Vice President told Smiley she’s set a goal of reaching 25 million new small business applications by the end of her first term.

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“We have lots of folks who are innovative, who work hard but don’t necessarily have access to the capital that is necessary to start a small business,” Harris told Smiley.

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But there is still a category of voters who say they don’t know Harris, something that makes them nervous about casting their vote in her favor. The Root asked Smiley, who is promoting his new memoir, “Sideshow: Living With Loss and Moving Forward With Faith,” what he thinks voters who say they don’t know Harris’ plans are missing.

“People are not doing their research. Because one thing about it is if you don’t know her, you do know Trump,” he said. “Go look at her record. Look at the Biden administration record and everything they did.”

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Smiley added that Donald Trump has made conscious efforts to sabotage any progress in order to build support for his campaign, particularly in the area of immigration reform – something Smiley said will end up hurting Americans in the long run.

“They did try to pass immigration. Donald Trump made phone calls and got all the Republican members to kill the bill. And that’s what they did, so you end up having what you have,” Smiley said