Kamala Harris in Sunday Political Talk Show interviews during 2020-2024

On Homeland Security: Target Russian finances to oppose Ukraine invasion

"This playbook is all too familiar to us all," she said of the events unfolding near Ukraine's borders. "Russia will plead ignorance and innocence. It will create false pretexts for invasion, and it will amass troop and firepower in plain sight."

Ms. Harris argued in her speech that the crisis had driven NATO allies together. "As President Biden has said, our forces will not be deployed to fight inside Ukraine," she said, touching on--but not exploring--the decision to leave the fighting to Ukraine's own military. "But they will defend every inch of NATO territory."

On Crime: Don't defund police; reimagine public safety

In a June 2020 radio interview, one host asked Harris, "Where do you stand on defund the police?"

Harris said, "Defund the police, the issue behind it is we need to reimagine how we are creating safety. When you have many cities that have 1/3 of their entire city budget focused on policing, we know that is not the smart way. For too long, the status quo thinking has been you get more safety by putting more cops on the street. Well, that's wrong."

Harris said suburban communities "don't have police walking those streets," but what they do have is well-funded schools & thriving small businesses. "This whole movement is about rightly saying we need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities," Harris said.

On Budget & Economy: Lower cost plan: housing; groceries; medical; and taxes

But just because her strategy is understandable does not make it sensible. Her prescriptions risk taking America further down the road of self-defeating economic policies. Ms Harris's cost-of-living plan may open a new phase in the worrying odyssey. She takes aim at four categories of costs: housing; groceries; medical; and taxes. Although some of her ideas are good and helpful, many more would end up weighing on growth and driving up prices--the exact opposite of their intended effect.

On Budget & Economy: FactCheck: no evidence for pandemic price-gouging

Although Ms Harris's promise to crack down on unfair mergers and acquisitions in the food industry that lead to less competition and higher prices is unobjectionable, in reality it is little more than a restatement of America's existing anti-monopoly policy. The Federal Trade Commission is, for instance, currently embroiled in a legal battle to block the biggest supermarket merger in American history.

On Corporations: Raise corporate tax rates to 28%, from 21%

Ms Harris has said that she will follow President Joe Biden's previously outlined plans to raise corporate tax rates to 28%, from 21%, but to only increase income taxes on individuals earning more than $400,000 annually. Together, these changes would not generate enough revenue to cover the full cost of her agenda. The shortfall would add about $1.4trn to America's deficit over the next decade, according to Piper Sandler, an investment bank. That is a lot, even if less than the cost of Mr Trump's tax-cutting plan, which is estimated to be about $4.5trn over the next decade.

On Energy & Oil: Does not support a total ban on fracking

During 2020, Harris publicly supported bans on fracking, mandatory buy-back programs for assault weapons, and decriminalizing illegal border crossings. Now, her campaign says she's changed her positions.

A few days ago, Harris' campaign released a statement saying the vice president "does not support a total ban on fracking" to drill for oil and gas. Video clips from 2019 of her telling CNN that "there's no question I'm in favor of banning fracking" have been circulating on social media.

Asked whether Harris' stance has changed, a campaign official told Axios that the vice president's positions have been "shaped by three years of effective governance."

On Environment: 2019: ban plastic straws; 2024: no longer her position

Why it matters: Banning plastic straws to protect the environment and marine life is the latest progressive issue on which Harris and her campaign have either declined to comment or changed her position.

Zoom in: Many parts of the country have banned plastic straws as concerns have grown about plastic pollution in oceans and waterways.

Flashback: During a CNN town hall in 2019, Harris was asked whether plastic straws should be banned: "I think we should," she said. "We do need to ban the plastic" straws, she added, saying that paper straws needed to be improved.

Axios asked Harris' current campaign if she still supports that idea. "She doesn't support banning plastic straws," a campaign official told Axios. "She joked about how crappy paper straws are and the need to come up with better eco-friendly alternatives."

On Families & Children: $6,000 child tax credit, expanded from $2,000 per child

These tax cuts would not come in isolation, however. America's budget deficit is running at about 7% of GDP, a level previously associated with wars or recessions, while the national debt is continuing to climb higher. Neither of the candidates has offered any serious proposals about how to clean up the country's fiscal picture, and would in all likelihood make it worse.

On Free Trade: Trump Tax: tariffs are a national sales tax

Harris slammed Trump's plan, saying it was "in effect, a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities."

Most experts say tariffs raise prices for consumers: The cost of tariffs can be absorbed by some combination of U.S. businesses that import goods, the customers who purchase them and foreign businesses that export them--which might lower their prices to make up for the tariffs--but the right-leaning Tax Foundation found previous tariffs levied during Trump's first term were paid by US businesses and consumers.

Moody's chief economist told CNN, "If Trump increases tariffs as he has proposed, the economy would likely suffer a recession soon thereafter."

On Health Care: Take on Big Pharma to cap prescription drug costs

President Biden called on Congress to "give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for 500 drugs over the next decade." During her first campaign rally as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to "take on Big Pharma to cap prescription drug costs for all Americans."

Biden and Harris will hold a joint event in Maryland on Thursday touting the administration's efforts to lower costs for the American people. The Harris campaign said she will announce a policy proposal pertaining to prescription drug costs.

[For example] According to the Biden administration's negotiated price list, the 2023 list price for a 30-day supply of Januvia was $527. In 2026, Medicare will instead pay $113--or 79 percent less.

On Health Care: Cancel medical debt and cap drug costs

Ms Harris has also said that she would work with states to cancel medical debts. Again, her aim is laudable: it is scandalous that so many Americans are saddled with medical debt. Yet just cancelling debt would only reset the clock for them, with debts once again piling up whenever they need medical attention. "Why are health care costs so high in the first place? That's a legitimate question but it does not lend itself to quick fixes," says [a Columbia University analyst].

On Immigration: Hire thousands more border agents: fix the border

VP Harris: "I'm Kamala Harris and I approve this message."

On Welfare & Poverty: Build 3m new homes; $25,000 downpayment credits

Her plan is light on details: the construction funding (she targets $40bn) would go to local governments, who would need to find their own solutions. Meanwhile, other elements would cut against her ambitious supply targets. She vows to go after Wall Street investors, whom she decries as "buying up and marking up homes in bulk". They actually own less than 1% of America's single-family homes, and have been building, rather than just buying, homes. Another pledge--one that received loud applause when she unveiled it in a speech in North Carolina on August 16th--is to give first-time homebuyers $25,000 towards downpayments on mortgages. With demand for homes still outstripping supply, extra cash of this kind may just translate into higher prices.

On Corporations: Return corporate rate to 35%; Trump would lower to 15%

A: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanently reduced the corporate income-tax rate to 21% from 35%.As a candidate seeking the 2020 nomination, Harris said she wanted to return that rate to 35%. If that's still the case, she would be seeking a steeper increase than Biden. The president has proposed boosting the corporate tax rate to 28%. Trump, meanwhile, has floated the idea of taking the corporate rate down to 15%.

Q: What about Harris's proposed tax on stock trades, and other ideas where she differed from Biden?

A: In 2019, when she was running for the Democratic nomination for president, Harris said in a Medium post that she would pay for her healthcare plan in part by taxing "Wall Street stock trades at 0.2%, bond trades at 0.1%, and derivative transactions at 0.002%. Think of it like this: that's a $2 fee on a $1,000 trade by investors and big banks," her post said.

On Energy & Oil: 2010s: Sued Big Oil; no climate change disinformation

On Social Security: Social Security Expansion: 12.4% on earnings over $250,000

As a Senator in California, Harris co-sponsored the Social Security Expansion Act:
In 2019, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) introduced the Social Security Expansion Act in the upper house of Congress. Then-Senator Kamala Harris of California was one of the bill's four co-sponsors. Instead of being reinstated on earned income above $400,000, the Social Security Expansion Act calls for the 12.4% payroll tax to recommence at $250,000. This bill would presumably raise even more revenue than Biden had proposed.

On Social Security: COLA adjustments and benefit boost for seniors

Current and new beneficiaries would enjoy a $200/month benefit boost :
On top of modestly higher COLAs over an extended period, compared to the CPI-W, the Social Security Expansion Act that Harris co-sponsored would increase monthly benefits to current and new beneficiaries by $200 per month, or $2,400 annually.

On Social Security: End payroll tax loopholes: increase investment tax

Harris would have the rich pay their fair share by ending payroll tax loopholes:
In addition to the payroll tax being reinstated on earned income above $250,000, the wealthy could see some of their business and/or investment income subjected to a higher net investment income tax under the Social Security Expansion Act. This would be done by increasing the net investment income tax by 12.4% above its current level. Note that this matches the payroll tax applied to earned income, which currently excludes investment income.

On Tax Reform: LIFT the Middle Class: supercharge earned-income tax credit

That sounds a lot like the monthly installments the IRS paid to parents in 2021, when Democrats boosted the child tax credit under the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan. The Harris proposal would have been on top of the child tax credit and the earned-income tax credit. It would have been expensive, costing approximately $3.1 trillion.

The LIFT act amounted to a "supercharged" earned-income tax credit, [one anlayst] said. But it's also "ancient history." The Democrats' focus now could be on the child tax credit in the wake of the 2021 increase and its looming decrease to $1,000 from $2,000.

On Civil Rights: Men and women support women in leadership

KAMALA HARRIS: Listen, I've been the first and first woman in almost every position I've had. I believe that. Men and women support women in leadership. And that's been my life experience. And that's why I'm running for president.

HOWARD STERN: When you got the call from Joe Biden, "I want you to run with me as vice president," were you floored? Were you expecting it?

KAMALA HARRIS: I didn't know that I was going to get it. And you know, I've obviously put myself out as being open to it. And I was incredibly honored when he reached out to me and offered it to me.

On Civil Rights: We had laws that treated gay people as second class citizens

On Crime: As a prosecutor, I have put a lot of people in jail

KAMALA HARRIS: I have put a lot of people in jail. I have personally prosecuted everything from, you know, child sexual assault to homicides. And then as attorney general, transnational criminal organization which I took on as a leader.

HOWARD STERN: So when you went after gang members, were you ever directly threatened by these people? They said, hey, you better just shut this down or you're going to get it.

KAMALA HARRIS: I've definitely had death threats. I don't generally talk about them.

HOWARD STERN: Right. Why don't you talk about it? Because you don't want to encourage any kind of nuts out there or is it because it just is too hard to confront.

KAMALA HARRIS: I refuse to live in fear of the bad guys.

On Education: Teachers do God's work; we don't pay them nearly enough

On Foreign Policy: Trump admires dictators while they manipulate him full time

KAMALA HARRIS: I believe that Donald Trump has this desire to be a dictator. He admires strong men and he gets played by them, because he thinks that they're his friends and they are manipulating him full time--and manipulating him by flattery and with favor. And so in the midst, to your point, as reported by Bob Woodward, in the height of the pandemic, and remember, people were dying by the hundreds. Everybody was scrambling to get these kits, the tests, the COVID test kits. Couldn't get them anywhere.

HOWARD STERN: Right.

KAMALA HARRIS: And this guy who is president of the United States is sending them to Russia, to a murderous dictator for his personal use.

On Foreign Policy: America is so important to the rest of the world

America is so important to the rest of the world. We are so important to the rest of the world. We are a role model for what it means to be a democracy so we can look at other countries and our allies and our adversaries and say, these are the principles that must be upheld. And while we uphold these principles, we will also be the strongest economy in the world. We will have the most lethal fighting force in the world. All these things coexist.

On Immigration: Our border agents need help & 1,500 more agents

On Principles & Values: This election is about strength versus weakness

KAMALA HARRIS: I literally lose sleep and have been over what is at stake in this election. Ultimately I do believe that this is an election that is about strength versus weakness, and weakness as projected by someone who puts himself in front of the American people and does not have the strength to stand in defense of their needs, their dreams, their desires, the work that must happen to make sure that we are a secure nation. That we are nurturing and protecting our alliances around the world, that we are supporting America's military, that we are fighting to bring the cost of living down for working families, that we are building businesses, building growth.

On Principles & Values: Part of American spirit is the expansion of rights

On Welfare & Poverty: America is a champion of sovereignty & territorial integrity

KAMALA HARRIS: To your point, doesn't support our friend Ukraine, doesn't support, something America should always, and has always been a champion of, which is the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity, which means the importance of standing against anyone who tries to take another nation by force. That's what we stand for as Americans, that you don't do that. And if you do that to our friends, we're going to stand with our friends.

On Foreign Policy: We must forever be a champion of liberty around the world

On Health Care: Allow Medicare to cover the cost of home care for seniors

On Immigration: I'll work with Congress to pass immigration reform

On Principles & Values: Your choice: a country rooted in freedom? or ruled by chaos?

Our democracy, it doesn't require us to agree on everything. In fact, we like good arguments from time to time. Just think of your own family, right? It's not the American way to not have disagreements. We don't shy away from robust debate. We like a good debate, don't we? And the fact that someone disagrees with us does not make them the enemy within. They are family, neighbors, classmates, co-workers. They are fellow Americans. And as Americans, we rise and fall together.

On Principles & Values: Trump has an enemies list; I'll have a to-do list

These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators. The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised. A nation big enough to encompass all our dreams, strong enough to withstand any fracture or fissure between us and fearless enough to imagine a future of possibilities. So America, let us reach for that future. Let us fight for this beautiful country we love.

On Tax Reform: I will deliver tax cuts to working people and middle class

As president, I will fight to help home buyers with your down payment, take on the companies that are jacking up rents and build millions of new homes. For years, we have heard excuses about why America can't build enough housing, enough with the excuses. I'm going to cut the red tape and work with the private sector and local governments to speed up building and get it done.

On Principles & Values: Endorsed by 100+ Republican lawmakers & officials

"Donald Trump's susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, unusual affinity for other authoritarian leaders, contempt for the norms of decent, ethical and lawful behavior, and chaotic national security decision-making are dangerous qualities," the letter states. "He is unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust."

On Principles & Values: Endorsed by group of 25 Muslim imams

The 25 Islamic religious leaders who signed the letter, which comes a year after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that sparked the war, argue that Muslim voters have a duty to think logically about their voting decisions and that backing Harris "far outweighs the harms of the other options."

"She is a committed ceasefire candidate too and is the best option for ending the bloodshed in Gaza and now Lebanon," they wrote.

The imams argued that former President Trump is a threat to their community. "Given [Trump's] well-documented history of harming our communities and country," the letter argues that the leaders have "a responsibility, an Amana, not to place our community in harm's way."

On Principles & Values: Endorsed by 400+ economists and policymakers

"The choice in this election is clear: between failed trickle-down economic policies that benefit the few and economic policies that provide opportunity for all," the endorsement document reads. "It is a choice between inequity, economic injustice, and uncertainty with Donald Trump or prosperity, opportunity, and stability with Kamala Harris, a choice between the past and the future. Nonpartisan researchers have predicted that if Donald Trump successfully enacts his agenda, it will lower GDP growth and increase the unemployment rate."

On Principles & Values: Endorsed by 700 national security officials

The letter criticizes Trump for praising "adversarial dictators" including China's Xi Jinping, North Korea's Kim Jung-un, and Russia's Vladimir Putin, "as well as the terrorist leaders of Hezbollah," while denigrating the U.S.

"The contrast with Mr. Trump is clear: where Vice President Harris is prepared and strategic, he is impulsive and ill-informed. We do not agree on everything, but we all adhere to two fundamental principles," the letter said. "First, we believe America's national security requires a serious and capable Commander-in-Chief. Second, we believe American democracy is invaluable."

"Our endorsement of Harris is an endorsement of freedom and an act of patriotism. It is an endorsement of democratic ideals and of relentless optimism in America's future."

On Principles & Values: FactCheck: Yes, has always claimed Black identity

Harris has always identified as a product of a multicultural family, being born of Jamaican and Indian immigrants. Her single mother, a Hindu adherent, embraced Black culture. Harris went on to study at Howard University, a historically Black university, where she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., one of the nation's preeminent historically Black Greek-letter organizations.

"Today's tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump's MAGA rallies this entire campaign," a Harris Campaign spokesman said. The White House press secretary [reacted], "What you just read out to me is repulsive. It's insulting. No one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify," she said.