From her fascination with Venn diagrams to that bizarre storytelling about astronauts, conservatives have laughed at the many word-salad moments and meme-worthy quotes from Vice President Kamala Harris.
If she has appeared confused and harmless in public appearances as vice president, her record as a California attorney general and later as a U.S. senator makes “the picture much more menacing,” Dan McLaughlin said on Washington Watch Tuesday.
In her run for the Democratic nomination in 2020, Harris said she would be quick to use executive action as president, McLaughlin, a National Review senior writer, recalled.
“She repeatedly announced that she intended to use executive power in very, very broad ways to just unilaterally override the Constitution,” he said.
In one debate exchange with then-candidate Biden, Harris spoke of her intention to “seize guns, basically,” to which Biden responded, “You can’t do that. The Constitution won’t let you,’” McLaughlin said. Harris just laughed.
McLaughlin said Sen. Harris was a big promoter of the gang rape allegations against Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings, allegations which were “completely implausible,” McLaughlin said.
“She’s certainly maximized the power that she’s had both as AG and as senator,” McLaughlin said.
Meanwhile, Trump is suggesting in public he is in a good position after Biden bowed out.
“Harris will be easier to beat than Joe Biden would have been,” Trump told CNN.
Conservatives should hope so. Harris was named the most liberal senator by non-partisan in 2019, according to GovTrack.us, an independent website that tracks Congress.
An analysis of her record by Newsweek found Harris to more liberal than Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist.
In the current political climate, Harris’ views have been most visible in her role as the administration’s point person on abortion.
Republican messaging that was geared toward Joe Biden, his age and cognitive abilities, will now shift and will aim to tie Harris to Biden’s policies. One policy he was most vulnerable on was the open southern border that has allowed millions of illegal aliens to pour in, and then remain here without being deported, during Biden's term.
Harris the non-'border czar'
Harris was famously given the responsibility of addressing illegal immigration in March 2021, when President Biden announced she was the administration's key person on that issue.
"So it’s not her full responsibility and job," Biden announced. "But she’s leading the effort because I think the best thing to do is to put someone who, when he or she speaks, they don’t have to wonder about is that where the President is. When she speaks, she speaks for me."
Despite that authority and responsibility handed to Harris, articles published this week by Axios and by Time are attempting to downplay her role as "border czar" for the Biden administration. Those articles criticize Republicans for giving her that unofficial title and also stress she concentrated on exploring the "root causes" of illegal immigration.
Aaron Van Allen, associate professor of government at Liberty University, told Washington Watch that Harris experienced a few "speaking debacles" over the border issue.
“She had stated on national television that she had been to the border. She was quickly corrected, and she said, ‘Well, no, but we're going to go.’ You saw quickly thereafter that the White House actually pulled her away from discussing anything with regards to immigration,” Van Allen recalled.
Harris, the GOP and abortion
Abortion, though, has been a big talking point for Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The buzz phrase in many Harris speeches has been “reproductive rights.”
Soon after the Court’s decision Trump began taking credit for the end or Roe, saying it was his “great honor” to nominate conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
However, the GOP, at the Trump campaign’s urging, watered down language in its 2024 platform on longtime key social talking points such as abortion and the definition of marriage.
“She’s moved to the left of Biden on the abortion issue,” Van Allen said.
Republicans will have to clarify the party’s stance on life, Van Allen also advised.
“This is something that (Harris) is going to bring to the forefront of the political landscape and in the political conversation because she knows that Republicans have been hesitant to pick up that conversation after the Dobbs decision,” he said.
As key Democrats pressured Biden to get out of the race, there was some concern about his ability to defeat Trump and retain the White House, but more concern was for the down ballot races, Van Allen said.
“More specifically, it’s some of the House races,” he said.
Democrats believe the House is in play, and they can take it back.
“The Senate, while some people would say it's a toss-up, I think that Republicans still have the momentum moving forward there," the professor predicted. “They firmly believe that Vice President Harris will give them a better opportunity to do that.”
Ruthless with power
Many see the list of legal entanglements against Trump as political persecution. A Harris administration would not likely be one to roll back weaponization of government resources against opponents.
Harris may not prove to be an effective leader but, if elected, will have plenty of people around to help her along, McLaughlin said.
“She will surround herself with people who know how to use power and intend to use it ruthlessly,” the NRO writer warned.
In California, Harris was attorney general in a Democrat-majority environment.
“She spent her whole career in places where she didn't even have to talk to people who disagreed with her, didn't have to consider their views and didn't have to respect their rights," McLaughlin said. "That produces somebody who really is not at all inclined to respect religious liberty, the rights of pro-lifers or simply due process of law."
