Jasmine Crockett at DNC says race is between career prosecutor and career criminal

The Dallas freshman congresswoman took to the national convention stage to ridicule former President Donald Trump and extol Vice President Kamala Harris.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, speaks during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center. The DNC program will feature President Joe Biden and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during Monday's ceremonies.

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, speaks during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago. Credit: Josh Morgan/USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect

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CHICAGO — U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, blasted former President Donald Trump as a “career criminal” while speaking at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, contrasting his record with Vice President Kamala Harris’ career as a prosecutor and former California attorney general.

“One candidate worked at McDonald’s, while she was in college at an HBCU. The other was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and helped his daddy in the family business: Housing discrimination,” Crockett said to boisterous laughter. “She became a career prosecutor, while he became a career criminal, with 34 felonies, two impeachments, and one porn star to prove it.”

“Kamala Harris has a résumé. Donald Trump has a rap sheet,” Crockett said. “She presides over the Senate, while he keeps national secrets next to his thinking chair — y’all know what I said the other time — in Mar-A-Lago.”

Crockett was the first Texan in Congress to speak on the DNC main stage. Her presence on the convention programming punctuated her exceptional political rise. She is a freshman member of the U.S. House, running for Congress after serving only one term in the Texas House. She has broken out as a viral messenger on Democratic priorities, often clashing with Republicans in public committee hearings.

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Crockett’s acumen as a party messenger showed early signs as a state representative, when she was an architect of a 2021 state House Democratic quorum break to stall the passage of Republican-led voting legislation. Before elected office, Crockett was a public defense attorney practicing civil rights law.

She alluded to her past as a public defender, saying Harris was “the kind of prosecutor we longed for.” She brought up Harris’ mandate for police officers to wear body cameras and efforts to reduce criminal recidivism.