David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, said on a podcast Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris still struggles with “sounding natural” in her answers to questions about economic policy.
Harris began rolling out her economic plan in mid-August, but critics were quick to push back against her ideas, such as a federal ban on “corporate price gouging” to address high grocery store prices and a $25,000 housing credit for first-time homebuyers. During an episode of “Hacks on Tap,” the former Obama adviser said her only “criticism” of the vice president is how he answers questions about the economy in interviews.
“The one thing I would criticize is, if you watch the debate, she clearly criticized Trump and Trump contributed a lot to it. But if you look at her answers on the issue of abortion rights, she was very passionate,” Axelrod said.
“On the economic issue, she's still searching for the right position, and she's relying on her record. I think record is really important,” Axelrod continued. “But she was interviewed in Philadelphia… Her opening answer at the debate on the economy was not very strong, her answer in Philadelphia was incoherent, she's relying on her record to say, 'I'm like you, I'm on your side.' And it doesn't feel natural. It feels like it's been siphoned off of a poll.”
Axelrod went on to say that Harris should start seeing the “middle class” as her “customers,” stressing that most of them have “been exploited by the system.” (RELATED: Fox Business host slams Democratic pollster who tried to defend Harris' economic plan)
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“It occurred to me, folks, that she's a prosecutor. She's actually prosecuting people who are screwed for working. She should look at this as a case, right? Like the cases that she's prosecuting, and adding a little bit of edginess to the fact that middle-class people, working people across the country are her clients and a lot of people have been screwed by the system,” Axelrod said. “The system is biased and she's going to fight on the side of those people. I think she's more comfortable in that role than she is in the way she answers these questions.”
Harris has been criticized by Republicans for failing to hold press conferences to address concerns about her stance on left-wing policies, which she has repeatedly toyed with. In a sit-down interview with CNN's Dana Bash in late August, she did not elaborate on why she had changed her stance on issues such as a ban on fracking, saying her “values” had not changed despite her toying with them.
Harris also appeared in an interview with Philadelphia's 6ABC Action News on Friday, where she spoke at length about her middle-class upbringing and garden when asked what she plans to do to make life more affordable for Americans.
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