New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed her new "singular focus" amid this year's presidential election during an interview on Saturday morning.
Appearing with Michael Steele and Symone Sanders-Townsend on MSNBC's The Weekend, James voiced her full-throated support for Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race against former President Donald Trump after President Joe Biden dropped out on Sunday and endorsed Harris.
"All Democratic attorneys general have endorsed Kamala Harris for president of these United States. I think an attorney general is in the best position to know what a former attorney general is capable of. In fact, she's more qualified than the last four presidents," James said of Harris who is the former attorney general of California.
James added: "It is my singular focus to have her elected as president. That's organizing, mobilizing and educating individuals about all that Donald Trump did to this country to divide us based on artificial constructs such as race, class and gender."
Newsweek has reached out to the Harris and Trump campaigns via email for comment Saturday morning.
James—who secured victory in her civil fraud lawsuit against Trump earlier this year— largely took aim at Trump's alleged ties to the controversial Project 2025 during her Saturday interview.
"He cannot distance himself from something that he has attempted to implement when he was president of these United States. And we were successful [in her lawsuits], 70 percent of the time," James said. "We were the firewall, Democratic attorneys general, and she, Kamala Harris, given her experience, given her background, someone who was obviously concerned about liberty and freedoms in this country and our democracy as a whole, she is the most qualified candidate to be president of these United States."
Earlier this month, Trump denied having any ties to Project 2025, an initiative developed by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, to make significant changes to the backbone of the federal government. It is designed to be implemented if Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, wins the election in November. Project 2025 told Newsweek at the time: "Project 2025 does not speak for any candidate or campaign."
Democrats and Republicans critical of Trump did not buy it when he said, "I know nothing about Project 2025," and have been using the initiative to showcase Trump's so-called extremism as a way to deter voters from supporting him.
James began investigating Trump just about as soon as she took office as New York attorney general in 2019. She launched lawsuits against the his administration over his immigration and environmental policies when he was in the White House. James also inherited a state lawsuit against Trump's charitable foundation, filed before she took office, and directed the suit to a settlement that included a $2 million fine.
Trump has repeatedly accused James of leading a "witch hunt" against him since she sued him over allegations that he inflated his wealth on financial statements for years to dupe banks, insurers and others. In February, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355 million in penalties, but with interest added, the total that Trump owes has grown to more than $470 million.
On Monday, the former president urged an appeals court to overturn Engoron's judgment. His lawyers argued in a court filing that if the judge's decision is upheld, it would give James "limitless power to target anyone she desires, including her self-described political opponents," the Associated Press reported.
A spokesperson for James' office said at the time: "We won this case based on the facts and the law, and we are confident we will prevail on appeal."
Last week, James released a statement in support of Harris alongside Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford to support Harris.
"As District Attorney, Attorney General, Senator, and now Vice President, Kamala Harris has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to protecting and expanding the rights of all Americans," the statement said. "She has fought fearlessly to support hardworking families, strong unions, accessible education, reliable infrastructure, and healthy communities. She has staunchly defended our right to choose and preserved our most sacred right to vote. There is no one more qualified to lead and continue to uphold the values of our great nation."
In 2010, Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, became California's first Black and South Asian attorney general.
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About the writer
Gabe Whisnant is Deputy Weekend Editor at Newsweek based in South Carolina. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2023, he directed ... Read more