Vice President Harris, who recently announced a new bid for the presidency after President Biden’s departure from the race, is moving away from several far-left stances she once supported. During her previous primary run for president, Harris sought to appeal to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. However, in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, she aligned herself with more radical ideals. Resurfaced clips show Harris opposing fracking, questioning ICE, criticizing hiring more police officers, considering allowing felons to vote, supporting a gun buyback program, and advocating for the elimination of private health insurance.
The Harris campaign has reversed course on banning fracking, an issue of particular importance in key battleground states like Pennsylvania. While Harris previously stated she supported banning fracking, her re-election campaign clarified that she does not intend to seek a fracking ban if elected president. Former President Trump has criticized Harris for her past opposition to fracking, which he believes could impact her support in Pennsylvania. The Harris campaign plans to defend her against attacks on her past left-wing stances, highlighting her law enforcement background as a local prosecutor and state attorney general in California.
Harris has shifted her stance on various issues, now supporting the Biden administration’s call for increased funding for border enforcement, a single-payer health insurance program, and a ban on assault weapons. However, she is now against requiring private gun owners to sell their weapons to the federal government. Harris no longer promotes “Medicare-for-all” and has endorsed Biden’s Supreme Court reform proposal for term limits and ethics guidelines for justices, without including adding additional justices to the Supreme Court.
The Trump campaign has highlighted Harris’s past statements supporting expanding the Supreme Court, but the Harris campaign has released a statement endorsing Biden’s reform proposal, which does not include expanding the court. Republican strategist Brad Todd, working with campaigns like McCormick’s, believes there is a wealth of video clips showing Harris’s past left-wing views that could be used against her in the campaign. However, the Harris campaign plans to push back against these attacks by emphasizing her strong record in law enforcement and her work in the Biden-Harris administration.
Overall, Vice President Harris’s bid for the presidency is seeing her move away from far-left stances she once promoted to appeal to a broader base of voters. While she has reversed her stance on issues like fracking and Obamacare, she continues to support key priorities of the Biden administration, such as border enforcement and gun control. The Trump campaign and other critics may continue to highlight Harris’s previous statements to paint her as a radical, but the Harris campaign is working to counter these attacks by emphasizing her law enforcement background and record in the Biden-Harris administration.
