(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, now back in the spotlight, spoke candidly about his affair with Vice President Kamala Harris, jokingly telling Politico that she would “deport his ass.”
Brown dated Harris in the 1990s when he was the speaker of the California Assembly. At the time, Harris was 29. Brown was 60 and married.
“She may send me back to Mineola,” Brown jested, referring to his hometown. “Sending me back to Texas would be a deportment!”
Though no longer on speaking terms, Brown has openly discussed his relationship with Harris and offered advice on how to win the presidency.
He seemingly criticized Harris’s fixation with identity politics and her frequent flip-flops in policies.
“The voters want her to answer them,” he said, implying she should avoid making identity a central issue, as reported by Politico.
On shifting positions, Brown suggested that if Harris “keeps people continually guessing then she can adjust the interpretation of your guess every time she sees you.”
Brown also negatively compared Harris to Hillary Clinton, stating that the vice president suffers of “Hillary syndrome,” referring to public perception and unlikability.
At the time of the interview, Harris was President Joe Biden’s running mate, and he had not announced his exit from the race. Brown’s comments have resurfaced as the media scrutinizes Harris’s past amid her presidential campaign.
Brown, now 90, has long been labeled as the force that propelled Harris into politics, having appointed her to two powerful California commissions, then known as “patronage” positions.
Democrats and leftist pundits have suggested that the suggestion that Harris’s career is owned to Brown is sexist and misogynist. Yet Politico, far from a right-wing outlet, reported that Brown was Harris’s “entree to many of the city’s most prominent figures and donors.”
In a 2019 op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle, Brown wrote, “Sure, I dated Kamala Harris. So what?”
He admitted to helping her career but also highlighted his support for other prominent politicians, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
In his Politico interview, Brown also mentioned aiding leftist Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
“I really had a good run with a lot of good, quality people,” Brown claimed. “None of those people, so far, are a great embarrassment.”
SF Gate columnist Heather Knight referred to Brown as a “powerful” man in a 2013 column. “The Man About Town: Former mayor. Chronicle columnist. Lawyer. Socialite. Sugar daddy. Willie Brown is a very busy guy – and very powerful,” she wrote.
