BALTIMORE — Shortly before Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid flipped the script for the November election, Phoenix pastor Rev. Warren Stewart, Sr. sought counsel from his friend the Rev. Amos Brown, a San Francisco pastor and longtime faith mentor to Harris .
As Stewart expressed deep unease about former President Donald Trump’s chances against President Joe Biden, especially in key swing states like Arizona, Brown encouraged Stewart to be patient and stay hopeful. Brown and Stewart are both affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA, a historically Black denomination.
“We were in despair,” Stewart said in an interview with The Tennessean, a USA TODAY Network partner, during the National Baptist Convention, USA annual session here in Baltimore . “People who support justice, people of color and even poor white people had very little hope because Donald Trump is an anti-justice candidate.”
But Stewart said that changed quickly, just as Brown predicted, when Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris. Stewart said he was preaching during a Sunday service when the news broke. As part of this rapid change, Stewart would find himself personally meeting with the Democratic presidential nominee when Harris visited Arizona for a rally.