In June 2019, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., tore into former Vice President Joe Biden in a Democratic primary debate. She openly suggested that he was a racist whose past political activity would have kept a "little girl" like her from attending integrated public school. About a year later, Biden selected Harris for his vice presidential candidate. It followed naturally that some intrepid reporter might ask Harris about why she had joined forces with such a historic bigot.
So far, Harris has been asked that question twice. Stephen Colbert asked, obviously assuming that she had prepared an answer. She hadn't. Instead, Harris broke into her now-famous Awkward Joker Cackle, saying with a laugh, "It was a debate!" Colbert quickly tried to laugh with her to alleviate the extraordinary tension -- and to back away from the unforced revelation that Harris is simply a political hack willing to leverage charges of racism for career gain.
Now, political observers might figure that such a terrifying brush with unmasking might prompt Harris to think through the question. She still hasn't. Over the weekend, ABC News' Robin Roberts asked Harris the same question. And Harris' answer was no better: "I think that that conversation is a distraction from what we need to accomplish right now and what we need to do." Harris again confirmed that her allegations of racism against Biden were merely a tool in her arsenal -- a tool to be wielded when convenient and stored away for possible future use when not.
Unfortunately, Harris isn't the only political figure who sees charges of racism as a convenient weapon, rather than as serious allegations requiring actual evidence. Democratic politicians appear to have latched on to the simple joys of charging political opponents with racism at the drop of a hat. According to the Associated Press, Democrats have taken, for example, to charging those who mispronounce Harris' first name with racism -- as though it is perfectly obvious that the emphasis in "Kamala" lies on the first syllable rather than the second.
And it's not merely that Democrats now levy frivolous racism charges with ease. Democrats are willing to jump -- without any evidence and to dire consequence -- to the conclusion that any incident involving black Americans is rife with racism. Thus, this week, when a black man named Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was shot by police officers and video leading up to the shooting was released, Democrats rushed to condemn the police, even while explicitly acknowledging that they didn't have the facts.
Biden released a statement with staggering irresponsibility: He called for an "immediate, full and transparent investigation" but openly stated that "the officers must be held accountable"; he claimed that America had woken up "yet again with grief and outrage that yet another black American is a victim of excessive force"; he called the shooting an "inflection point" and yet another symptom of "systemic racism." Again, Biden had no access to the facts. But that didn't stop him from levying charges of racism.
It wasn't just Biden. Gov. Tony Evers, D-Wis. -- whose state investigative system will be handling the case -- immediately announced, "While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country."
And so, Kenosha burned. And the narrative has been set: The shooting was unjustified, and racist at that. No evidence has been presented; none need be. And if the facts don't match the accusations, the facts will be put aside. Harris herself has continued to push the absolute lie, for example, that Michael Brown was murdered in Ferguson, Missouri, an allegation firmly rebutted by former President Obama's Department of Justice. Fealty to the narrative is the sole qualifier for power in Democratic circles.
Will any of this alleviate racism? Of course not. But it's not designed to. It's designed to achieve and attain power. And, so far, the strategy seems to be working.
Ben Shapiro, 36, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of "The Ben Shapiro Show" and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the author of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller "The Right Side of History." He lives with his wife and three children in Los Angeles.
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