Trump Hits Kamala Right At Home
Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, are voicing strong concerns about a potential Kamala Harris presidency, suggesting it would replicate the issues currently plaguing California, albeit without the state’s favorable climate.
Since Kamala Harris entered the presidential race following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal, she has made significant efforts to distance herself from both her 2020 campaign promises and the current administration she is part of. Her recent shifts in policy positions—from her views on fracking and Medicare for All to her stance on electric vehicle mandates and stricter border controls—seem aimed at portraying herself as a centrist rather than the progressive she was in 2019.
Trump, however, is not letting Harris evade scrutiny for her previous policy positions. He has been branding her as “Comrade Kamala,” implying a radical leftist agenda. He argues that her policies, while she was involved in California’s political landscape, contributed to the state’s growing problems such as unaffordable housing, permissive crime laws, and the subsidization of illegal immigration.
“Look at what’s happened to California,” Trump remarked recently. “They’ve let the state deteriorate, and she would do the same to the whole country.”
Harris, who was born in Oakland and served as San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general before becoming a U.S. senator, has been accused by Trump and Republicans of contributing to the state’s problems. Specifically, they point to San Francisco’s lenient crime laws and the proliferation of homeless encampments as indicative of what could happen nationwide under her leadership.
Trump frequently criticizes Harris for her indirect association with Proposition 47, a 2014 measure that eased criminal sentencing for certain property and drug crimes, which many attribute to rising crime rates in San Francisco. Although Harris, as attorney general at the time, did not officially endorse the measure, critics argue her inaction allowed it to pass.
Additionally, Trump has spotlighted California’s homeless crisis, which has recently prompted Governor Gavin Newsom to issue an executive order for clearing encampments. Trump and Vance argue that Harris’s policies, or lack thereof, have exacerbated these issues.
Despite their criticism of California, both Trump and Vance maintain ties to the state, attending fundraising events and leveraging its political landscape to bolster their arguments. This focus on California’s problems mirrors how Democrats use issues in conservative states to appeal to their base, as noted by Dan Schnur, a Republican strategist. Schnur observed that both parties use such geographic examples to galvanize their supporters, playing on fears of the unfamiliar.
In summary, Trump and Vance’s strategy involves highlighting the challenges faced by California under policies associated with Harris, portraying them as a harbinger of what might come if she were to become president.
