DETROIT (CN) – Nine Democratic presidential hopefuls gathered Wednesday at the 110th NAACP National Convention in Detroit for an open forum that touched on economic inequality, criminal justice reform, voter suppression and white nationalism.
The civil rights organization continued its tradition of allowing presidential candidates to speak at the yearly gathering. Past speakers have included former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney and John McCain. President Donald Trump was invited to speak but declined.
“The upcoming 2020 presidential election is one of the most pivotal elections in our lifetime and will be heavily influenced by the black electorate. Issues such as voting rights, immigration, criminal justice reform, student loan debt, the economy and environmental justice persist as crucial concerns for African-Americans,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said.
Candidates at this year’s convention included former Vice President Joe Biden; Senator Cory Booker; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro; Senator Kamala Harris; Senator Amy Klobuchar; Former Congressman O’Rourke; Senator Bernie Sanders; Senator Elizabeth Warren; and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who is seeking to challenge Trump for the Republican nomination.
A wide variety of attendees filled the rows of seats in the cavernous Cobo Center to hear from the candidates, from power-suit clad executives to young adults dressed for the middle of summer.
Warren was the first on the stage. With former special counsel Robert Mueller simultaneously testifying before Congress, the first question from CNN White House correspondent April Ryan involved just that.
“I read the Mueller report…I concluded first that this is a man who has broken the law and should be impeached,” Warren said of President Trump.
The senator from Massachusetts also spoke about economic disadvantages in the country.
“We have an entrepreneurship gap in this country,” she said. “Not because they don’t have good ideas….they don’t have a [financial] path.”
Booker spoke next, claiming Detroit is a part of his family history.
“This is where my momma was born” he said, before touting his plan for “broad-based criminal justice reform.”
“We have a system that’s deeply biased along racial lines,” Booker said.
O’Rourke then bounded onto the stage excitedly and greeted the crowd in Spanish.
“Buenos Dias!” he shouted before launching right into the subject of voter suppression.
O’Rourke also dismissed any ideas that his campaign was struggling.
“We also ran against the odds in Texas,” he said. “We knocked on doors and won that race…we have been a long shot before.”
Buttigieg followed and said he is running for president “because I think America is running out of time.”
“I don’t need to tell black Americans why the old normal will not work. White supremacy brought this country to its knees once,” he said.
The mayor added that “it took intention to create inequalities we see today.”
Castro wanted the crowd to know he wasn’t shy about calling out President Trump for his policies.
“We’ve seen the rise of white nationalism that the president is stoking,” he said.
He also slammed the idea of “Make America Great Again,” Trump’s campaign slogan.