The long-time pastor of Vice President Kamala Harris once appeared to blame the U.S. for the September 11th terrorist attacks.
Amos Brown, the pastor at San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church, delivered a speech during a 2001 memorial service for 9/11 victims days after the attack and questioned whether America “set up this climate,” according to SFGate. Brown, who has a reputation for holding far-left sentiments, has known Harris for nearly 25 years, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
“America, is there anything you did to set up this climate?” Brown said during the 2001 service, according to SFGate. “What did you do — either intentionally or unintentionally — in the world order, in Central America, in Africa where bombs are still blasting?“
“America, what did you do in the global warming conference when you did not embrace the smaller nations?” Brown reportedly continued. “America, what did you do two weeks ago when I stood at the world conference on racism, when you wouldn’t show up?”
Paul Holm, the former partner of Mark Bingham, a 9/11 victim who was on United Airlines Flight 93, said at the time that the speech “was supposed to be a memorial service,” according to SFGate. California Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi reportedly apologized to Holm for Brown’s remarks and said during her own speech that the U.S. would “not take responsibility” for 9/11.
Then-San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Tom Ammiano called the speech “over the top” and said Brown “could have chosen another venue or a different way of saying it,” according to SFGate.
Brown has visited Harris in the White House at least twice, according to the Beacon. Harris remains a “dues-paying member” of the church, Brown told Religion News Service in 2023.
“For two decades now, at least, I have turned to you,” Harris said of Brown at the National Baptist Convention in 2022. “I have turned to him. And I will say that your wisdom has really guided me and grounded me during some of the most difficult times. And — and you have been a source of inspiration to me always.”
Harris called Brown after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, telling him she was running for president asking him to pray for her, Brown told Sojourners.
Brown served on the California reparations task force and supported payments to descendants of slaves, according to The New York Times. Brown called America racist in a 2021 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.
“How do I do it? Because I know America,” Brown said when asked how he is not “paralyzed” by “all the violence against Black people and trauma [he’s] witnessed both during your childhood in the South.” “America is a racist country.”
Harris’ relationship with Brown bears similarities to the 2008 controversy regarding former President Barack Obama and his former pastor, Jerimiah Wright, according to the Beacon. Wright was also scrutinized for his views on America as Obama was running for president.
The Third Baptist Church and the Harris campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. Brown could not be directly reached for comment.
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