David Axelrod, former President Barack Obama's chief campaign strategist, said Friday that the far-left's campaign for the 2020 presidential election is disingenuous because Vice President Kamala Harris is actually a moderate.
During her 2020 campaign, Harris supported many left-wing policies, including a ban on fracking, a federal gun buyback requirement and an end to private health insurance, but has shifted some positions since launching her 2024 campaign. Axelrod said on “Inside Politics with Dana Bash” that Harris' 2020 campaign failed because she wasn't authentic, and that her 2024 campaign will be more in line with her true beliefs. (Related article: First day of protests at the Democratic National Convention described as “mostly peaceful” as police repel rioters who breached barricades)
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'She's a center-left Democrat': David Axelrod says Harris' far-left 2020 presidential bid lacks 'authenticity' pic.twitter.com/5dzzAAp2lT
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 23, 2024
“She didn't win in 2020. And I don't think she was a very good candidate in 2020. In fact, she didn't make it to 2020. I think that's the way she's running her campaign right now because that's who she is. She's made her career as a prosecutor, as an attorney general. I think she's a left-of-center Democrat,” Axelrod told host Dana Bash. “I think she obviously has a lot of experience on crime issues. In a lot of ways, the themes that you hear here reflect her character, and I don't think she's running for office – or that she, or her advisers – left a lot of her life behind four years ago.”
“The thing about a presidential campaign, Dana, is it's all about authenticity. If there's not an organic emotion in the words that you speak, if you don't really put your heart into the words that you speak, then those words don't reflect who you really are, and people are going to know that eventually,” he added. “So right now, she appears to be a candidate who is consistent with her message.”
Harris also praised police budget cuts in June 2020, about two months before joining President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential tally.
During her time as a senator, the vice president also pushed for left-leaning legislation, including diversifying the government's workforce, environmental justice, eviction moratoriums, and work permits for undocumented immigrants. In 2018, Harris likened Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the Ku Klux Klan. Suggested The entire institution should be abolished and rebuilt “from scratch.”
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