Fox News is never going to be a friendly place for Vice President Kamala Harris. in a presence Special report with Brett BaerHe was asked about some of the top attractions and talking points of the American right: gender-affirming surgery, Joe Biden’s mental acuity, the possibility of war with Iran. And — of course — he got tough questions about immigration policy and the southern border.
In answering these questions, Harris showed how precisely the Democratic Party is moving toward the ideological centerpiece of its candidacy — immigration.
He chose not to defend immigration, or immigrants themselves, and left the playing field to the right. There was no mention of the country’s immigrant roots or the value of those immigrants (here legally or not) that Baer asked. And there was no condemnation of Donald Trump’s stated plan for mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. He didn’t mention it, even as he invoked archaic laws to round up and deport millions of people living in the United States.
Instead, Harris used the interview to further distance himself from the left of his party on his past and on immigration. Did he regret the immigrant-friendly stance of allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses in 2019, qualify for free tuition at some universities, or received Public health insurance under a universal plan?
no no.
“Listen, that was five years ago, and I’m very clear that I will abide by the law. I have made that statement time and time again,” Harris responded.
If soBaer followed, Why did he choose a running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, who signed some of those same proposals into state law in Minnesota?
Harris paused before saying that his ticket was “very clear that we must uphold and enforce federal law and that is exactly what we will do.”
And so the pattern repeated itself: Given the chance to defend immigrants in the face of classic right-wing scaremongering (like when he was asked about “single grown men who have committed heinous crimes”), Harris would leave the base and pivot to the bipartisan border with Bill Biden earlier this year. suggested that Trump assisted the tank. He did the same when asked if he regretted the Biden administration’s rescinding of a Trump-era executive order to restrict immigration — citing a bill the White House proposed that he said would “fix our immigration system.” But he ruled out that it would provide one Path to citizenship For some undocumented immigrants already living in the United States.
All this A trend continues For Harris. Last week, in a town hall hosted by the Spanish-language media network Univision, Harris was given the opportunity to twice call out and condemn Trump’s mass deportation plan while speaking to families who had been deported or were unable to access health care. had no legal status. He passed on that opportunity instead to mention his past support for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients before talking about reviving the bipartisan border bill.
And since being nominated and headlining a national party convention that tended to mention immigration in the context of the need for tougher border policies, he has continued to push for a bipartisan border bill that many progressive and liberal immigration advocacy groups and members of his own party don’t support. . Those critics are still biting their tongues — pointing to the need to unify to win elections and prevent the anti-immigrant Trump from taking control of the executive branch — but that truce only lasts until Nov. 5.
