Harris calls out Trump's “brazen flip-flop” on Florida recreational marijuana

Kamala Harris' campaign trotted out an Iraq War-era insult over Donald Trump's new stance on marijuana

Published September 1, 2024 1:40PM (EDT)

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA); President Donald Trump (Getty/Salon)
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA); President Donald Trump (Getty/Salon)

As anyone whose invested in a few neon green accessories this summer will tell you: the ‘00s are back. That Y2K revival also extends into our politics, where an old chestnut has resurfaced from the Kamala Harris campaign: flip-flopper.

In a memo shared by the campaign, Harris’ staff bashed Donald Trump for his “brazen flip-flop” on the issue of recreational marijuana. 

The Iraq War-era insult flew after Trump threw his support behind a ballot amendment in his home state of Florida that would legalize recreational marijuana. After touting his record as “the most respected LAW & ORDER President in U.S. History,” Trump pushed for the state legislature to get out ahead of marijuana legalization.   

“Whether people like it or not, this will happen through the approval of the Voters, so it should be done correctly,” he wrote. “We need the State Legislature to responsibly create laws that prohibit the use of it in public spaces, so we do not smell marijuana everywhere we go, like we do in many of the Democrat run Cities.”  

“Someone should not be a criminal in Florida, when this is legal in so many other States,” he continued. “We do not need to ruin lives & waste Taxpayer Dollars arresting adults with personal amounts of it on them.” (sic)

The Harris campaign accused Trump of  "just making things up" to help his election chances in November. 

"As of this morning, Trump now suggests he is for legalizing marijuana – but as President, his own Justice Department cracked down on marijuana offenses," Harris communications aide Ian Sams said in the memo, per ABC News.

Harris’ campaign accused Trump’s rhetoric of being “wholly at odds” with the way that Trump governed. Though Trump supported a bipartisan bill to shore up protections for state-level marijuana laws, he also rolled back some Obama administration guidelines that restricted the practice of charging people found with marijuana with federal offenses.

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