Julian Castro Slams Media’s ‘Double Standard’ For Candidates Of Color After Kamala Harris Drops Out
Julián Castro had a thing or two to say about the “double standard” Kamala Harris faced as a woman of color in the Democratic presidential race.
“The way the media has treated Kamala Harris has been something else,” he said in a statement to the press, which was tweeted by his national press secretary, Sawyer Hackett, following the California Senator’s announcement of her campaign end on Tuesday (Dec. 3), The Hill reports.
Castro blamed the media that “basically trashed her campaign and focused on one small part of it,” he said, adding, “They’ve held her to a different standard, a double standard [that] has been grossly unfair and unfortunate.”
Castro began his statement about his former fellow Democratic presidential hopeful saying, “I really want to commend Sen. Harris for the race that she’s run. She’s one of the most qualified people running, and throughout this campaign she’s run her campaign with class and with dignity.”
He went on to comment on Harris’ immigrant parents and said how she “articulated a vision and fought for people of all different backgrounds, people who need a champion.”
In an interview with BuzzFeed following Harris’ exit from the race on Tuesday (Dec. 3), Castro echoed that sentiment, saying, “To me, they held her to a different standard, a double standard, to other campaigns. And I don’t know if it impacted her decision to withdraw from the race or not, but I’m sure it didn’t help.”
He added to BuzzFeed, “This was a narrative from very early on. … From the earliest critique that she has no Black support, the [Congressional Black Caucus] is going other directions. It’s just holding people to different standards.
“I was disappointed by the treatment her campaign got especially during the last seven days, when you had the Washington Post, New York Times, and Politico writing very gossipy sounding big articles trashing the campaign,” the former HUD Secretary told BuzzFeed.
Castro also tweeted on his own account about his dismay with the media’s “flawed formula” and commented on how the next Democratic debate in December won’t show the party’s diversity.
“The media’s flawed formula for ‘electability’ has pushed aside women and candidates of color,” he wrote. “Our party’s diversity is our strength, and it’s a shame that we’re headed for a December debate without a single person of color.”
Harris announced she was withdrawing from the race on Tuesday (Dec. 3) due to a lack of funding to move forward.
“I’m not a billionaire. I can’t fund my own campaign,” she wrote in a letter to supporters. “And as the campaign has gone on, it’s become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete.”
