Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza warned Friday about the most damaging attack former President Donald Trump could launch against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris supported a number of left-leaning policies during the 2020 presidential campaign and chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who has a far-left record on issues such as immigration and transgender policy, as her running mate for the 2024 election. YouTube ChannelHarris said her choice of Walz over the more moderate Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro left her vulnerable to “attacks on liberalism.” (RELATED: Harris once bragged about working “behind the scenes” to get transgender inmates sex-reassignment surgery)
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“I think it was a smart and symbolic message to pick someone like Shapiro, who is clearly a moderate and ran as a moderate, to say to all the liberals in San Francisco, 'Sure, you can say what you want about me, but my first and only big decision in this campaign is to pick someone who calls himself a moderate,'” Cillizza said. “I think the most dangerous thing for Harris is this attack on her liberalism.”
“She's from the coast, she's from San Francisco, she has a pretty liberal voting record in the Senate and she's taken a number of very liberal positions, including banning fracking, supporting the Green New Deal, supporting Medicare for All, mandatory buybacks for assault weapons,” he added. “She's taken a lot of positions in the 2020 campaign that people may not be familiar with or know much about.”
During her time as a senator, Vice President Harris also pushed left-leaning legislation, including diversifying the federal workforce, environmental justice, a moratorium on evictions, and work authorization for some undocumented immigrants. Harris has previously likened Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the Ku Klux Klan and praised the “defund the police” movement, but has reversed some of her positions since launching her 2024 campaign.
“She tried to walk back those positions pretty quickly after becoming the nominee, but I think the argument the Trump campaign should make is this guy is too liberal,” Cillizza said. “And Waltz… I don't think he's terribly liberal. He's certainly not liberal in tone, but his actions in Minnesota suggest his policies may be liberal. With Shapiro as the nominee, I think she could make that point and say, 'I want to be someone who's good for the entire Democratic Party and the entire country.'”
Mark Penn, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, said Tuesday he was “disappointed” in Harris' choice of Waltz as her running mate because he believed letting the American people choose the nominee would give “the left” “control” Harris' administration.
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