CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Ajay Pittman

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

All right, right now I want to bring in Ajay Pittman. She's a Representative in the Oklahoma Statehouse representing Oklahoma City. She's also a surrogate for Joe Biden's campaign for President. Good to see you.

STATE REP. AJAY PITTMAN (D-OK): Likewise, thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: So, I want to first get your reaction to what the President said last night while in Tulsa that he wanted to slow down testing for the coronavirus. As someone who represents a state seeing an uptick in cases and as is also the case today, your response. Can you hear me okay?

PITTMAN: Yes, now I can. What was your question?

WHITFIELD: Oh, okay. Well, let me ask you -- let me re-ask the question then. I'm wondering what your thoughts are about President Trump who said in that arena, that testing should be slowed down for coronavirus and Oklahoma, you know, it has been seeing -- Tulsa in particular, county -- has been seeing an uptick in cases. What is your response to President Trump saying that? Slow down testing?

PITTMAN: That that is absolutely crazy. We cannot slow down testing. Some of my colleagues, my legislative colleagues, were one of the first to decide that we were going to vote by proxy as we finished out legislative session because we wanted to encourage our communities to stay home, especially minority communities.

We know that this virus is hitting African-American communities and communities of color at higher rates than everyone else. So, we cannot slow down testing. We actually need more testing. We need more swab testing so that we can adequately prevent the cases from rising. We cannot track cases if we don't know who has it.

WHITFIELD: Do you think that low turnout for the President's rally is representative of an apprehension, a real concern for coronavirus?

PITTMAN: I think it's that. I think it was that represented of the low turnout. It was compounded also with the outcry of our community, the outcry of people around this nation about the date of the rally and the location of the rally. It is --

WHITFIELD: You're talking about in being day after Juneteenth, and the President, his omission to address, say anything about Greenwood and the massacre of black people.

His omission about even -- there was an acknowledgment for changing the date because of pressure leading up to it but no words coming from the President yesterday in Tulsa, and you think that has something to do with the low turnout, too?

[15:10:13]

PITTMAN: Absolutely. Absolutely. It has to, because we have seen not only in the State of Oklahoma, but across the nation, an outcry of people coming together because they want to see change.

This has become a movement. This has become a moment in time in history, where we have people that are black, white, Native American, Asians standing together for one cause, and our Commander-in-Chief does not even mention it at all, especially in a place that is so rich with history, and a place where he is standing on the ground where it is soaked with the blood of people who were slaughtered almost a hundred years ago.

That says that you are not worried about your culture, our culture. You're not worried about our community and you're not worried about your African-American supporters.

African-American supporters were a complete afterthought to him. And you can tell that they were not at the forefront of his mind as they even stood in the audience in that arena. WHITFIELD: So now, as I mentioned, you're a surrogate for Joe Biden,

the presumptive Democratic nominee tweeted after the rally simply this, "Speed up the testing." That was his response to you know, that other message I mentioned, that the President did carry out about slowing down the testing if Biden is elected. What do you believe his plan is to pick up the baton on coronavirus?

PITTMAN: I think he will immediately enact a Taskforce and listen to healthcare professionals, make sure that we have testing coming, make sure that it is in small communities, make sure that these healthcare workers that are on the frontline have the proper PPE that we need.

He has been wearing masks. He has gone out. He has been talking about the virus and making sure and encouraging people to stay safe. The whole team is working from home. The whole Biden campaign has been working from home, which means, he not only cares about his family, he cares about the family of his team, and he cares about all Americans.

So, I know that as soon as he is elected, he will make sure that we are creating vaccinations and we are seeing what a cure we can have for this or what testing we can get so that we can make sure that we are better prepared, so that if this ever happens, again, our economy and our people are not hit in the same way.

WHITFIELD: And then quickly, if elected, how do you see that Joe Biden is best suited to help lead what appears to be a real national reckoning as it pertains to race relations?

PITTMAN: I think his leadership as Vice President shows that. He stood by former President Barack Obama in lock-in steps, supporting him in every way. That's a bond we cannot go out just acknowledging that and saying that he has always cared about people of color, communities of color, and that if he is elected, he will work to unify our communities throughout this nation and that is what we need.

We need someone that will put people before politics and I feel like Joe Biden will do that every day that he is in that office.

WHITFIELD: Oklahoma State Representative Ajay Pittman. Thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

PITTMAN: Thank you so much for having me.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source