After backlash during Trump visit, SC college opens 2020 candidate forum to students
After President Donald Trump’s Friday visit to Benedict College, a historically black South Carolina university in Columbia, a subsequent event planned for Democratic presidential hopefuls has been upended.
The event, which was scheduled to take place at Benedict College Saturday and Sunday and feature 10 Democrats running for president — including former Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg — has been modified with new hosts and more control from the university itself.
The new forum, which will focus on the theme “Students First,” will be held in its place in the Little Theater on campus, according to Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, the event’s host.
The controversy started after 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center, the group originally hosting the three-day criminal justice forum, awarded Trump the Bipartisan Justice Award for his work on the First Step Act. Past recipients of the award include 2020 hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris, who was scheduled to speak on Saturday, and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott.
Friday night after the award was given, the Harris campaign announced it would be pulling out of the event and hosting another forum somewhere else in town.
“As the only candidate who attended a (historically black college or university), I know the importance that these spaces hold for young, black Americans,” Harris said in a statement. Harris said in a statement: “when it became clear Donald Trump would receive an award after decades of celebrating mass incarceration, pushing the death penalty for innocent black Americans, rolling back police accountability measures and racist behavior that puts people’s lives at risk,” and then she learned that a handful of Benedict students were able to attend, she could not “in good faith be complicit in papering over his record.”
Saturday morning, Trump hit back at Harris for refusing to attend the event.
“Badly failing presidential candidate @KamalaHarris will not go to a very wonderful largely African American event today because yesterday I recieved a major award, at the same event, for being able to produce & sign into law major Criminal Justice Reform legislation, which will greatly help the African American community (and all other communities), and which was unable to get done in past administrations despite a tremendous desire for it,” Trump tweeted. “This and best unemployment numbers EVER is more than Kamala will EVER be able to do for African Americans!”
As of Saturday, Harris had recommitted to participating in Benjamin’s forum.
Benjamin, a Democrat, subsequently tweeted at about 11 p.m. Friday that instead of hosting the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center event, he would be hosting his own, student-centric event, which several 2020 hopefuls would be attending.
The 20/20 group now is hosting two non-candidate forums Saturday morning at Benedict, Benjamin said.
Benedict College took full control of the candidate forum, Benjamin said, opening it up to students and the public.
