Amid her candidacy to serve as Joe Biden's running mate, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., dialed back on race-baiting rhetoric that included calling President Donald Trump "racist in chief," saying she does not see Trump supporters as racist.
"Of course not, Chris, of course not," Duckworth told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace. "I think President Trump is trying to divide us as a nation.
"We need to come together as a nation, we need to unite."
Duckworth supports immigration reform "that is doable; that is humane; that is fair."
"I think most Americans agree that we need sensible immigration reform, we need a way for those who are here illegally to pay fines and go to the end of the line and work their way toward citizenship," she told Wallace.
She sounded a very Biden-like centrist view.
"We can't let President Trump continue to divide us," she added. "There's ways to come to the middle on this."
Duckworth even called out the violent rioters in Portland, Oregon, something many Democrats have been reluctant to do so as to not denigrate peaceful demonstrations.
"I think violence is wrong, I absolutely condemn the violent protesters," she said. "I fully support the rights of people to express their First Amendment right peacefully."
Duckworth is among the finalists to be Biden's running mate, but she sounded ready to accept a lower role in the administration as she called the other women "just wonderful."
Biden's finalists also include: Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.; Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif.; Susan Rice; Rep. Val Demmings, D-Fla.; Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms; and Stacey Abrams.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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