*As the 2020 presidential nominees arrived in Cleveland for their first debate Tuesday night, Democratic State Rep. Bernadine Kennedy Kent and her husband James Whitaker came out to greet one of them as he came off the plane. And it wasn’t Biden.
According to a pool report, the two-term lawmaker went aboard Air Force One to greet President Trump before the debate. The lifelong Democrat had turned off members of her own party long before throwing her support behind the president’s reelection. She was kicked out of the House Democratic caucus in June 2018 after she sent a letter on Ohio Legislative Black Caucus letterhead without permission. She hasn’t been to the Statehouse since May 2019, telling the Columbus Dispatch in July she has continued to serve constituents from home.
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper said Kent’s Trump endorsement does not reflect the strong support among Ohio Democrats for Joe Biden.
“She basically hasn’t been involved with the party or her Statehouse job for a long time,” Pepper said. “This is the first I’ve heard of her in a while. Obviously she checked out of her public position a long time ago.”
Kennedy Kent, who is not running for re-election this year, said “muddied mistreatment and unlawful action” against her by the House Democrats drove her away from the party. She said her decision to endorse Trump for reelection is due to ow unemployment rates among Black Americans and his administration’s increased support for historically black colleges and universities.
“We all recognize that gainful employment and economic development is the best deterrent against violence and social unrest, so I want to thank President Trump for his commitment to ensuring the success of the Black community in every way,” Kennedy Kent said in a news release.
Below are several videos of Rep. Kennedy Kent in action:
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