Kimberly Klacik talks dismantling Planned Parenthood, lauds Trump for helping to empower minorities
Kimberly Klacik, a rising star in the Republican Party, will be a political anomaly if she's elected in November.
Klacik, a 37-year-old conservative black woman, is running for the 7th Congressional District in Baltimore, Maryland, a seat that was held for more than two decades by the late Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings.
The district, where voters are registered as 68% Democrat and 16% Republican, according to The Baltimore Sun, has never elected a Republican. Klacik, however, believes that after years of high crime and decades of blighted neighborhoods left unresolved by Democratic representation, voters are ready for a change.
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Klacik told The Christian Post that despite the aberration, GOP representation is stirring in Baltimore, and noted that four black Republicans are running for city council and all are Trump-supporters.
Minorities are running as Republicans across the country, not just in Baltimore, because they feel the president has “extended an olive branch” to them, Klacik said.
“If you look around the country, we have 21 minorities running for Congress as Republicans and that is because I think that with President Trump’s presidency, he has extended an olive branch to minorities across the country just by what he said: ‘What do you have to lose,’” she told CP at the "Get Louder" Faith Summit at the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Thursday.
Congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik talks abortion and how she plans to make change in the Baltimore area. Live at the Falkirk Center!
Posted by The Christian Post on Thursday, September 10, 2020
The quote Klacik cited was made by Trump during a 2016 presidential campaign rally in Dimondale, Michigan, where he called on “every single African American citizen” to vote for him that November. “What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump?” Trump asked. “You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58% of your youth is unemployed, what the hell do you have to lose?”
Klacik told CP that Trump’s prompt resonated with many minorities who now have the courage to make an impact.
In August, Klacik’s initial campaign ad went viral across multiple conservative social media platforms and even received a retweet by the president who wrote: “Kimberly will work with the Trump Administration and we will bring Baltimore back, and fast. Don’t blow it Baltimore, the Democrats have destroyed your city!”
Kimberly will work with the Trump Administration and we will bring Baltimore back, and fast. Don’t blow it Baltimore, the Democrats have destroyed your city! https://t.co/PDdjgxbIHu
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2020
On the topic of abortion, CP asked Klacik how she would proactively combat abortion in a district where the predominate race demographic is disproportionately affected by abortion.
“My platform, we’re all about family planning. We talk about the fact that 35 other countries already have birth control over the counter available, and this is oral contraceptives. This is before conception. This is a woman taking responsibility before any of those things happen. I know it’s not ideal. I know we should talk about abstaining from sex, but right now we have to be realistic with things. So I believe if we stop regulating oral contraceptives through the government, allow them to be over the counter, it would lead to less abortions.”
Klacik's argument is that deregulating oral contraceptives through the government could be a way to defund Planned Parenthood.
“I tell people that want to defund Planned Parenthood, this is a great way to do that. Their need and the way they stay open, the data shows, they get funding because of the people that need the contraceptives. We take that out of their hands, we might take Planned Parenthood out.”
Klacik also spoke at the Republican National Convention in August where she delivered a scathing analysis of Democrat leadership in the Baltimore area over the years:
“The Democrats have controlled my city, Charm City, for over 50 years and they have run this beautiful place into the ground. Abandoned buildings, liquor stores on every corner, drug addicts and guns on the street — that is now the norm in many neighborhoods. You’d think Maryland taxpayers would be getting a whole lot since our taxes are out of control; instead, we are paying for decades of incompetence and corruption.”
After an unsuccessful special election run for the seat in April, Klacik said her campaign has now raised over $5 million, which, according to her, is the most ever raised by a candidate in her district.
Maryland’s 7th Congressional District is currently being represented by Democratic Rep. Kweise Mfume. Mfume was elected on May 5 in a special election to fill the vacancy left by Cummings, who held the seat from 1996 until his passing in October 2019.
