While Sen. Kamala Harris may have scored a few political points among progressives for joking about her marijuana use during her younger years, linking it to her Jamaican heritage, there was one person who did not find her comments amusing: her father.
Donald J. Harris, emeritus professor of economics at Stanford University, sent an unsolicited statement to Jamaica Global Online denouncing his daughter’s remarks.
"My dear departed grandmothers ... as well as my deceased parents, must be turning in their grave right now to see their family’s name, reputation and proud Jamaican identity being connected, in any way, jokingly or not with the fraudulent stereotype of a pot-smoking joy seeker and in the pursuit of identity politics," he said. "Speaking for myself and my immediate Jamaican family, we wish to categorically dissociate ourselves from this travesty.”
Harris was responding to comments his daughter made on nationally syndicated radio show "The Breakfast Club" earlier this month during a discussion about marijuana legalization at the federal level.
“I have and and I did inhale" - Kamala Harris says with a laugh when asked if she’s smoked pot.
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) February 11, 2019
“I think that gives a lot of people joy and we need more joy,” she adds.
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The California Democrat talked about her use of marijuana in her younger years, saying she “inhaled.”
She also dismissed rumors that she opposed marijuana legalization.
“That’s not true. Look, I joke about it, I have joked about it. Half my family is from Jamaica, are you kidding me?” she said, laughing.
According to Politico, Harris's parents divorced when she was young. She and her sister were raised by their mother although her father did stay in their lives.
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