CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Newly-minted US Senate candidate Jeff Jackson said Thursday he would support the conviction of former President Donald Trump in the Senate.
The Charlotte Democrat is running to fill Sen. Richard Burr’s seat when he retires in 2022.
“Yes, I would,” Jackson told WCNC Charlotte’s Ben Thompson during this Sunday’s edition of Flashpoint.
“The question shouldn’t be if he should be impeached and convicted. It’s whether we consider the impeachment clause of our constitution to be operational. Do we consider it be a real thing that exists in our constitution? I do.”
On Jan. 6, a mob of angry Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol. Multiple people died in the attack, including a police officer. Jackson said the President incited the violence with his rhetoric after the election and during a rally just moments before the riot.
“People were killed," Jackson said. "It was an international embarrassment.”
Jackson is promising a “100 county” campaign, focused on rural counties where Trump easily won, in addition to urban cities where Democrats historically perform well. He said his party must do a better job of reaching out to rural voters.
“Expand your electorate. Expand your concept of what a winnable voter actually means,” Jackson said, referencing the playbook used by Democrats in Georgia this past election.
Jackson announced his candidacy Monday. The 2022 US Senate race in North Carolina is expected to be a highly-contested and expensive race, possibly surpassing the 2020 race which was the most expensive in the state’s history.
CMPD: Ending low-level drug arrests is 'work in progress'
Charlotte city councilmen, Larken Egleston and Tariq Bokhari discuss the WCNC Charlotte Defenders investigation about CMPD still arresting low level drug offenders and how the coronavirus is affecting the local economy.
A WCNC Charlotte Defenders investigation found CMPD is arresting people for low-level drug crimes despite the fact that the Mecklenburg County District Attorney made it clear he'll no longer prosecute those cases.
Back in November, DA Spencer Merriweather told CMPD that in an effort to overcome pandemic-related court delays he is now prioritizing violent crime over drug crimes.
Under the policy, suspected low-level dealers won't face prosecution unless police actually see them selling and find a large amount of drugs.
However, it took two months for rank and file police officers to get the memo.
When asked about it on Wednesday, they finally admitted that the district attorney's recent policy change remains a work in progress for the department.
A new City Council member will be announced Monday
143 people signed up to fill Charlotte's vacant city council seat. The applicants will now speak at a public forum on Friday. The new city council member will be announced on Monday.
The seat will be a democrat since James Mitchell, who resigned, was a Democrat.
Charlotte city councilmen, Larken Egleston and Tariq Bokhari discuss the process of getting a new city councilmember on Monday and their plans for the future.