Monday’s Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon could have easily been mistaken for a Kamala Harris campaign rally. Being granted a generous portion of the show, Senator Harris pleaded the case for her presidential aspirations to viewers at home and the in-studio audience filled exclusively with college students.
Harris began the night by partaking in the time-honored Fallon tradition of “slow jamming” the news, a skit former President Obama was also treated to, all designed to push Democratic talking points. Harris began:
During last week's debate, I told the American people why I'm running for President. I'm a public servant, a civil rights leader, and the second African-American woman in history to be elected to the United States Senate. At the core of my campaign is my 3 a.m. agenda, my plan to solve the issues that keep Americans up at night. I'll implement Medicare for All and even give middle class families $500 a month right in their pockets. And let me tell you something, I'm just getting started.
Without missing a “beat” (pun intended) Fallon joined in by heaping praise upon the Senator; “Oh yeah. Kamala Harris is just heating up. She's thinking about you late at night, when you're trying to put that sweet, restless body of yours to bed. Is that $500 dollars in your pocket? Or are you just happy your health care is free? With Kamala, it's both.”
Fallon’s band member, Black Thought (a.k.a. Tarik Trotter), then serenaded Harris with a fawning jingle: “Ever since Barack left we've been off track, but Kamala is trying to get us back to black.”
Two other notable quotes from the slow jamming session included Fallon’s snarky remark, “So what you're trying to say is that...Trump's the bad guy?” As well as his inquiry: “Now tell me this Kama Kama Kama Kamala Harris by now, we've seen the Democrats get down and dirty on the debate stage. What about debating President Trump? Do you think you could deliver the goods against the commander in cheese puff?” To which Harris not so humbly replied; “I'd wipe the floor with him.”
The Kamala marathon continued with a sit-down interview following the commercial break. During which time she lamented and bemoaned (uninterrupted) the lack of abortion questions asked during the Democratic debates.
The floor was then opened to the students in the crowd, affording Harris the opportunity to host a mini-town hall of sorts. Some key queries included: “I want to know what you would do for students like me who are going to graduate with massive amounts of student debt?” The only challenging question the left-wing politician got was when one of those students asked about the hotly contested “assault weapons” ban: “Do you believe in the mandatory buyback of quote-unquote 'assault weapons'? And whether or not you do, how does that idea not go against fundamentally the Second Amendment?”
The event was rather off-kilter for the rarely political Fallon. Although, since he was attacked for allegedly “contributing” to President Trump’s victory, he must have realized it is in his unofficial hosting contract to only bestow adulation upon those in the Democratic Party.
Transcript below:
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
9/16/19
11:39:34 PM
[Slow jamming segment]
KAMALA HARRIS: During last week's debate, I told the American people why I'm running for President. I'm a public servant, a civil right's leader, and the second African- Amerian woman in history to be elected to the United States Senate. At the core of my campaign is my 3 a.m. agenda, my plan to solve the issues that keep Americans up at night. I'll implement Medicare for All and even give middle class families $500 a month right in their pockets. And let me tell you something, I'm just getting started.
JIMMY FALLON: Oh yeah. Kamala Harris is just heating up. She's thinking about you late at night, when you're trying to put that sweet, restless body of yours to bed. Is that $500 dollars in your pocket? Or are you just happy your healthcare is free? With Kamala, it's both.
BLACK THOUGHT: Ever since Barack left we've been off track but Kamala is trying to get us back to black.
(...)
HARRIS: Well, it's my opinion that we need a President that fights for the best of who we are and over the past three years, Donald Trump has done the exact opposite.
FALLON: Hold up. So what you're trying to say is that..Trump's the bad guy?
HARRIS:Duh.
FALLON: Now tell me this Kama Kama Kama Kamala Harris by now, we've seen the Democrats get down and dirty on the debate stage. What about debating President Trump? Do you think you could deliver the goods against the commander in cheese puff?
HARRIS: Well, Jimmy, if I do debate President Trump, I'm sure it will be a competitive faceoff where either one of us could end up on top.
FALLON: Really?
HARRIS: No, I'd wipe the floor with him.
(...)
FALLON: This is your third Democratc debate we just finished last week.
HARRIS: Yeah, right.
FALLON: How did you think you did? And is there any issues that you wish you could have touched upon that they didn't bring up?
HARRIS: You know, I really- we've got to talk about issues like choice for women and access to reproductive healthcare. And you guys know, I mean, it's a big issue. And women- the women of America right now are, you know, under attack by these states and others who are passing legislation that is, you know, prohibiting a woman to make a decision about her own body. I mean, it's all these out of touch politicians who are making these decisions. And they need to understand- they need to understand it's the woman's body, it's not their body. And, you know, I was in a hearing for, you know, the Supreme Court I was on the Senate Judiciary Committee. And I actually asked the nominee, "Is there a law that you know of that tells a man what he can do with his body or should do with his body?
FALLON: Yeah. There is none.
HARRIS: No.
FALLON: No.
HARRIS: No.
FALLON: Wow.
HARRIS: And, you know, and it's a real issue and, you know, it is about woman- it's about a woman's right to make decisions about her own life and it really- in this year, in 2019, that we've still got legislators who are telling women what to do with their own body.
FALLON: Yeah.
(...)
FALLON: I thought what a great opportunity. We have all these students in our audience tonight. I thought it'd be great to maybe take some questions from them.
HARRIS: I'd like that.
FALLON: Is that ok?
HARRIS: Yes, of course.
FALLON: Brianna from NYU. Where is Brianna? Go ahead Brianna.
BRIANNA: Hi, Senator. So, as a first generation college student that comes from a lower socioeconomic background, student loans were kind of inevitable for me. And with graduation right around the corner from me, I want to know what you would do for students like me who are going to graduate with massive amounts of student debt?
HARRIS: Yeah, that's right. It's one of the biggest issues facing our students. Here's my plan one, we need to have debt-free college. We need to have free community college. And I'm also prepared to make sure that we provide interest-free loans. Because, nobody should be profiting- Breanna, nobody should be profiting off of your desire to get an education.
FALLON: Where is Andrew? From Fordham? Andrew?
ANDREW: Thank you for being here and taking my question do you believe in the mandatory buyback of quote-unquote "Assault weapons?" And whether or not you do, how does that idea not go against fundamentally the second amendment?
HARRIS: Yeah. Great question I do believe that we need to do buybacks, and I'll tell you why. First of all, let's be clear about what assault weapons are, they have been designed to kill a lot of human beings quickly. They are weapons of war with no place on the streets of a civil society. I've seen assault weapons kill babies and police officers. So, one, I'll tell you when elected president, if the United States Congress continues to fail to have the courage to do something about this, I'm prepared to take executive action and put in place a ban on the importation of assault weapons into our country. But we still have to deal with the over 2 million assault weapons that are currently in the streets of America and so a buyback program is a good idea. Now, we need to do it the right way. And part of that has to be, you know, buy back and give people their value, the financial value of what they have and not just take things from people that have value without compensating them. We need to do it the right way but we've got to deal with the fact that these people in Washington, D.C. Have failed to have the courage - how many of you guys, as college students, had to have a drill during high school or middle school or elementary school, where you -- or even in college, where you learned about how you need to hide in a closet or crouch in a corner in the event that there is a mass shooter roaming the hallways of your school? Look at that, look at that and here's the thing, it terrorizes you. It is traumatizing..
