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Vice President Kamala Harris tried to engage undecided and persuadable voters at a CNN town hall in Delaware County in the key state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
While she did not offer many details of policy proposals, she did talk about reaching across the political aisle as a way of contrasting herself with former President Donald Trump, who declined to join the town hall. Below are key lines from the event.
The moderator, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, got right into the allegation by Trump’s former chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, that the former president admires fascists.
Harris talked about the long list of former Trump aides who have raised the alarm about his foreign policy, including his generals, chief of staff and defense secretary. She encouraged people to go listen to audio of Kelly. His recent comments to The New York Times were something she consistently returned to during the town hall.
Cooper asked directly if Harris thinks Trump is a fascist.
An undecided voter asked Harris what she’d do for “anti-Trump Republicans like myself who feel left out of the polarized political landscape.” Harris responded by promising to be “a president for all Americans” and referenced her background as a prosecutor – another point she returned to repeatedly during the town hall:
Harris also noted reports that in the wake of natural disasters during his time in the White House, Trump would ask if the victims were in areas that voted for him.
For people looking for specifics on policy, Harris did not offer many details, although she did talk about a new $6,000 child tax credit for newborns and addressing housing affordability. If there was an overriding theme in her answers, it was about working together toward priorities. Here’s something she said about addressing high housing prices:
That answer came during a question from an undecided voter about groceries, the price of which are a motivating issue for many voters, but which neither Trump nor Harris has an easy answer. She mentioned a national ban on price-gouging and also argued Trump’s tariffs would hurt. Economists say the tariffs would raise prices for consumers. Trump says they would drive a new US manufacturing boom.
Asked by an undecided voter what she would get done in Congress, Harris did not offer a single specific policy, but rather a vibe of bipartisanship.
Cooper pointed out that on one Democratic priority, reinstitution of nationwide abortion rights, they’re unlikely to have the votes.
That’s the Senate custom of requiring a supermajority of three-fifths of senators in order to end debate on policy issues. Removing it has been called the “nuclear option” of parliamentary procedure.
Harris made the case that abortion bans have hurt women, but she tried to convince people who view themselves as pro-life that it’s OK to acknowledge the post-Roe v. Wade environment is flawed.
She did say that on abortion, despite the obstacles on Capitol Hill to passing a new law, there can be a way to engage people across the aisle.
On one question where she has struggled in recent weeks, Harris said she would not simply continue the Biden administration but avoided dissing Joe Biden. Here’s what she told an undecided voter after talking about her experience with issues like housing, caregiving and raising children:
On immigration, she refused to say the Biden administration should have done more sooner to stop the tide of migrants at the border, instead arguing a bipartisan compromise is needed.
Pressed by Cooper, she said the solution needs to be the goal, not the political win.
Cooper asked if she still thinks Trump’s push for a border wall is “stupid” since her compromise bill includes money for a border wall.
HARRIS: I’m not afraid of good ideas, where they occurred.
COOPER: So you don’t think it’s stupid anymore?
HARRIS: I think what he did and how he did it … did not make much sense, because he actually didn’t do much of anything.
Harris had trouble saying yes or no to questions like that. Answering a question about how to keep Palestinians from getting killed by Israeli bombs, Harris, a supporter of Israel, did not directly answer. Later, she was asked by Cooper what she’d say to people who disagree with her on that issue and are thinking of supporting a third-party candidate. Her response:
She was equally indirect during an exchange on Israel:
COOPER: Do you believe you would be more pro-Israel than Donald Trump?
HARRIS: I believe that Donald Trump is dangerous.
In an interesting moment, Harris was asked by Cooper why one of her first calls after Biden dropped out of the presidential race was to her pastor.
Esther was the Jewish wife of the king of Persia who saved Jews in the empire from annihilation. Harris also told Cooper she prays every day. Sometimes twice a day.
The vice president was asked by an undecided voter about what weaknesses she brings to the table. It’s a difficult question to answer off the cuff, but she said she gets too much input.
Harris has trouble making broad pledges. On taxes, she said she would not raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 per year.
But the tax questions, she said, are too complicated to generalize at a town hall. Small business owners might make more than $400,000 but still not have their taxes raised, she suggested.
Asked about policy reversals on fracking and other issues and her view of policing – positions that were more liberal during the 2020 Democratic primary – Harris said she has gained more experience as vice president and that she will evolve in the future.
On banning fracking in particular, Cooper asked an important question.
“Do you think it is bad for the environment though?” he asked.
Harris tried to contrast what Trump would do in office with what she will do in office, making reference to his controversial remarks about using the military against what he called the “enemy from within.”
Asked for her proudest accomplishment, Harris pointed to a children’s welfare bureau she helped set up in California and her work addressing maternal mortality in the US.
