Leftists want to keep black Democratic lawmaker Val Demings from being Joe Biden's running mate because she's a former cop

As presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden searches for a running mate, leftist progressives in his party and among his liberal base are urging him not to pick a particular black Democratic female lawmaker because she was once a police officer.

What was that now?

Since the moment Biden became the likely nominee, the former vice president has faced ongoing calls for him to tap a running mate who checks at least one demographic box — preferably two — important to the identity politics of the left.

According to those offering advice to the nominee, the most important characteristics of a good vice presidential candidate do not include aptitude, leadership ability, experience, or understanding of the Constitution. Rather, these so-called advisers are telling Biden he must select a woman, preferably a black woman.

Unless that black woman is Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), who served as Orlando's first female police chief from 2007 to 2011.

Why? Well, consider the current protest- and riot-riddled environment. Americans are protesting for racial justice and police form, while many radicals, including many members of the Black Lives Matter movement, are leading anti-cop riots.

The Hill reported Friday that progressives are giving Demings' law enforcement past the hairy eyeball, "questioning whether someone who spent a decades-long career in law enforcement is right for this moment."

"While she was chief of police, I felt like public policies and changes to address community policing should have been done," said Lawanna Gelzer, president of the central Florida chapter of the National Action Network, according to The Hill. "It was not. We've had a problem here for years."

Gelzer said if Demings' gets the veep nod, then Biden won't get her vote.

"I will go vote, but I will not vote for her if she's on that ticket," said Gelzer, who added that the party's pick should stop listening to law enforcement for now.

"Biden needs to listen to the people of Orlando and of Florida and elsewhere — not law enforcement — at this time," Gelzer stated.

If you're a cop, you're not black?

Black Lives Matter activists told the Hill they are equally unimpressed with Demings.

Hawk Newsome, who co-founded BLM's Greater New York chapter, told the paper, "She's a cop. She was a top cop at an extremely brutal police department. She was a vocal supporter of brutal actions by police."

And then he made it clear that a person cannot be both black and a cop.

"We are working to abolish police. We are working to defund police. When you are a police officer, you are not black anymore. You are blue," Newsome said.

During the Hill interview, Newsome turned to his sister, Chivona Newsome, a congressional candidate who co-founded the BLM chapter with Hawk, and asked her if Biden should pick a former cop as his running mate.

She screamed, "Hell no!"