Leo Terrell: The Democratic Party left me this year — here's what I am going to do now

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Leo Terrell: Kamala Harris 'not qualified to be VP'

'We have to save this country,' says Leo Terrell sounding off on the selection of Kamala Harris as Vice President

Fox News viewers have long known me as an ardent Democrat, ready to fight for the ‘other’ side. However, in the past eight months, this has changed. It has changed so drastically that I’m jokingly referred to as “Leo 2.0.” It is a change so complete that I am campaigning and preparing to vote Republican in this election — for the first time ever.

As the Democratic Party gets ready to hold its national convention, I’d like to explain why I’ve left the Democratic party and will proudly cast my vote for President Donald Trump. First let me say, I did not leave the Democrats, they left me. The party of the Civil Rights movement, the party of JFK and “Ask not what your country can do for you” has abandoned all its principles and handed the reins over to extremists.

Let’s start at the top with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden. On May 22, in an interview with Charlamagne tha God, Biden told him, “I tell you if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t Black.” In case you don’t know, I AM Black, and I did not know that the color of my skin also came with a mandate that I vote for the old White guy who’s been in politics for 47 years (without a discernible record of accomplishments on behalf of Black people.)

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I didn’t know that Black Americans were expected to form a monolithic voting bloc, one in which we bow down to the almighty Democrats, and do whatever they say. Again, I ask, what has Biden done for Black America? It’s not just Biden — or his dubious choice for vice president — that has me casting a Republican ballot.

What has happened to the Democratic party? I don’t even recognize it anymore — not since they allowed all policy decisions to be made by extremists within the Black Lives Matter and Antifa movements. Thanks, but I’ll take a hard pass on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. dressing up in a kente cloth and taking a knee.

I need, WE need, for Democrats to support law and order. We need Democrats to acknowledge that ALL Black lives matter ... that it means more than just the George Floyds of the world. It means the Black-on-Black crime that’s killing children in Chicago, and the looting and riots that killed retired St. Louis police captain David Dorn, a Black man.

Instead of seeing the very real and very necessary reason for police in poor neighborhoods, Democrats are calling to “Defund the Police.” If you do this, who will answer the call to fight the drug dealers and the gang members in the neighborhood? I can assure you, it won’t be a social worker and it won’t be Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

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Finally, the Democratic party has left me by refusing to acknowledge that President Trump is right about the corrosion of America’s largest cities. Our cities are literally going up in flames, all while the elected officials blithely watch. And guess who’s running them?

Democrats. In New York, it’s Bill DeBlasio, who has even managed to appall traditional Democrats. Chicago has Lori Lightfoot. Seattle has its very own summer-of-love Mayor Jenny Durkan. And there’s Los Angeles, where Eric Garcetti has effectively managed the rapid decline and decay of my beloved home city. These cities regularly make the news for riots, looting, murders and rampant homelessness. The quality of life in these cities has declined — all on the watch of the Democrats.

As a Civil Rights attorney, it would seem out of character for me to vote for Donald Trump. But I am a fair-minded individual and have witnessed our president pass a comprehensive police reform executive order, at the same time supporting law enforcement.

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I know from my work that inner-city residents need and depend upon a police presence to fight crime and violence. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has turned its back on me and all Americans by giving in to chaos and dismissing the needs of the poor and middle classes.

My vote depends upon one thing: who will fight for every American in this country? It’s the candidate who will fight for law and order, and fight for equality of educational opportunities. My vote has been earned by a Republican, and that is our current President, Donald J. Trump.