While the liberal media was trying to gaslight the country into believing that Joe Biden’s new running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris was a “pragmatic moderate,” Fox News Channel’s Special Report did not shy away from exposing the radical policies Harris pushed while running for president. Between eliminating private health insurance and decriminalizing border crossings, there was a lot to cover.
At the top of her report, correspondent Kristin Fisher pointed out how Harris has flip-flopped when it came to supporting the police after the death of George Floyd and riots crisscross the country:
KRISTIN FISHER: As protests surged in the wake of George Floyd's death, Senator Kamala Harris never explicitly called for defending the police, but she did say this:
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): We need to reimagine how we are achieving public safety in America.
“It’s a change for the former top cop from California, who earned a reputation as being pro-police,” Fisher said, noting that Harris rarely prosecuted any officers when a civilian was killed. But after recalling how Harris had raised her hand for increasing beat cop patrols, Fisher recalled how, “two months ago, she told The New York Times that, quote, ‘It is status-quo thinking to believe that putting more police on the streets creates more safety. That’s wrong.’”
Adding: “Supporters describe the Senator’s change in tone as an evolution, but critics see it as a politically expedient flip-flop, similar to her reversal on health care.”
Harris took up radical positions from almost the moment she was sworn into office. According to Fisher, “In 2017, Harris was the first senator to co-sponsor Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for all bill. But in the middle of the primary, she pivoted saying she no longer supported one of the bill's key provisions eliminating private insurance.”
That pivot on eliminating private health insurance came while the Harris campaign was floundering, it was the same for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). And it most certainly was a “politically expedient flip-flop” because as NewsBusters has documented, she made an impassioned argument for the elimination during a CNN town hall in January of last year.
Fisher also appeared to cite the Center for Legislative Accountably’s 2019 Ratings of Congress, which gave Harris a score of 3.03 percent by conservative metrics. “Ahead of both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren,” she reported.
As for Harris’s other far-left policy positions, Fisher listed off her support for such items as decriminalizing illegal border crossings, among others:
She voted against banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and was an original supporter of the green new deal sponsored by congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. During the primary, Harris also raised her hand in favor of decriminalizing illegal border crossings. And she said she supported an assault weapons ban, plus a mandatory buyback.
The liberal media can pretend Harris was a “pragmatic moderate” all they wanted, but the Senator’s record was there for all to see. And their eagerness to have the Democratic candidates raise their hands at debates to bid on who was the furthest left was coming back to bite them.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
Fox News Channel’s Special Report
August 12, 2020
6:46:34 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: Kamala Harris is his pick. And tonight, we take a closer look at the potential strengths and weaknesses of having Senator Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket. Here is correspondent Kristin Fisher.
[Cuts to video]
KRISTIN FISHER: As protests surged in the wake of George Floyd's death, Senator Kamala Harris never explicitly called for defending the police, but she did say this:
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): We need to reimagine how we are achieving public safety in America.
FISHER: It’s a change for the former top cop from California, who earned a reputation as being pro-police. During her six years as the state’s attorney general, she rarely-ever prosecuted officers who killed civilians.
In her book Smart on Crime, she wrote, quote, “If we take a show of hands who would like to see more police officers on the street, mine would shoot up,” adding that, “virtually all law abiding citizens feel safer when they see officers walking a beat.”
But two months ago, she told The New York Times that, quote, "It is status quo thinking to believe that putting more police on the streets creates more safety. That’s wrong.”
Supporters describe the Senator’s change in tone as an evolution, but critics see it as a politically expedient flip-flop, similar to her reversal on health care.
In 2017, Harris was the first senator to co-sponsor Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for all bill. But in the middle of the primary, she pivoted saying she no longer supported one of the bill's key provisions eliminating private insurance.
HARRIS: I listened to American families who said "I want an option that will be under your Medicare system that allows a private plan." [Transition] There will be a public plan under my plan for Medicare and a private plane.
FISHER: Despite the backtrack on these signature policy issues for Progressives during the primary, a government watchdog website still ranked Harris has the most liberal senator in 2019 ahead of both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
She voted against banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and was an original supporter of the green new deal sponsored by congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. During the primary, Harris also raised her hand in favor of decriminalizing illegal border crossings. And she said she supported an assault weapons ban, plus a mandatory buyback.
HARRIS: We cannot, any longer afford to allow people to make this a partisan issue. Those guns, those assault weapons do not discriminate.
[Cuts back to live]
FISHER: So, Senator Harris is certainly more progressive than the man at the top of the ticket, but her time as California's attorney general was moderate enough to poke some big holes in the Trump campaign's claims that she is a far-left radical. Bret.
BAIER: Kristen, thank you.
