Donald Trump’s latest Kamala Harris attack ad – fact check

Kamala Harris faces the wrath of Donald Trump and the Republican campaign machine in new attack ads criticizing the Vice President’s “radical” voting behavior.

Harris has emerged as the Democratic frontrunner for the 2024 presidential election and is supported by President Joe Biden, the Clintons and the Obamas, among others.

In its latest attack ad, the Trump campaign focused on Harris’ “radical” agenda on criminal justice reform, immigration, policing and the economy. Newsweek has examined his criticism.

“My pronouns are they and their”

The video begins with Harris saying her pronouns are “she” and “her.” However, the footage is from 2022, where Harris, along with other attendees, was prompted to say their pronouns. Without context, it might appear as though Harris announced this without prompting.

The video of Kamala Harris was taken at a meeting with disability activists at the White House. The announcement of her gender, pronouns and clothing did not come out of the blue, as some comments suggested, but was part of a diversity and inclusion effort to support the visually impaired.

“The most liberal senator”

Next, a clip shows Harris being confronted with the fact that she is considered the “most liberal senator in the United States” based on a rating by the “bipartisan GovTrack.”

It comes from a 2020 60 minutes Interview with Norah O’Donnell. The Trump attack ad is edited to make Harris appear annoyed by the question. In the interview, she responded that she had been challenged on that point by Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, before O’Donnell said that was based on a GovTrack rating.

GovTrack, which tracks the legislative profile of U.S. congresswomen, had previously published a report card for the 2019 legislative year in which she was ranked as the “most liberal” compared to all senators. The page has since been removed. Speaking to The National Desk, GovTrack founder Joshua Tauberer said they stopped the report cards after concluding that the data was “insufficient to create a reliable picture of legislators’ activity.”

Visiting the border

Harris has also been criticized for her previous false claims that she was not at the US-Mexico border.

In a June 2021 interview, NBC News anchor Lester Holt urged her not to visit the U.S.-Mexico border.

“We were at the border,” Harris replied, which Holt questioned, saying she had not personally been to the border and replied, “And I was not in Europe… I don’t understand what you are getting at.”

Later that month, Harris toured Border Patrol facilities in El Paso, reported The Texas Tribune.

Harris on border security

The next clip includes another quote from Harris: “I’m for saying we’re not going to treat people who cross the border without papers as criminals, that’s right.” The ad features a title that suggests she’s for “OPEN BORDERS.”

This clip is from a performance in 2019 on The view when Harris was asked a series of rapid-fire policy questions, including questions on immigration, in which she rejected claims that she wanted to decriminalize border crossings.

Harris goes on to say that she would not make crossing the border without papers a crime that could be “punished with imprisonment.” It should be a “civil matter, not a criminal matter.”

“You have to follow the rules, but you can’t treat people like criminals when they cross the border,” Harris added, later saying she wanted “border security” and reform of the Department of Homeland Security.

The ad also suggests – based on a 2018 interview with MSNBC – that Harris wants to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is misleading.

Although Harris said she wanted to “critically examine” ICE, which could mean “starting over,” the vice president did not advocate abolishing ICE.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt in 2018, Harris said, “Listen, I think there’s no question that we need to take a critical look at ICE and its role and the way it’s managed and the work it does.

“And we probably need to think about starting over, because there’s a lot wrong with the way it’s behaving. And we need to deal with that.”

Health care for migrants

Returning to immigration, the ad accuses Harris of advocating for “FREE HEALTHCARE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS,” citing a 2019 interview with Jake Tapper.

Tapper cited the failed Medicare for All bill, which Harris supported.

“The bill also states, ‘Every person residing in the United States is entitled to health care benefits under this law.’ Not every person is a citizen, but every person residing in the United States is,” Tapper said.

“So you are in favor of giving universal health insurance (Medicare for All) to people who are in this country illegally?”

Harris responded: “Let me be very clear. I oppose any policy that denies any person in our country access to public safety, public education or public health care, period.”

This answer does not specify whether Harris supports Medicare or other benefits for illegal immigrants, only whether she opposes measures that would specifically restrict rights. The question was not pursued further.

Illegal immigrants often have difficulty obtaining health insurance. A recent study by the KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation) found that there are only four states where all adult immigrants are eligible for public health insurance. These include California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.

However, a dozen states and DC offer fully government-funded health insurance for income-eligible children, regardless of their immigration status, and some even extend this option to pregnant women.

“Defund the Police” and “Cop Haters”

The ad cuts to another clip titled “Defund the Police,” in which Harris asks an interviewer to define “defund the police” when asked if she supports such a policy.

Harris, responding to a question from Meaghan McCain at a press conference, said the country needs to rethink how it wants to ensure public safety in America.

“There are cities where a third of the entire budget goes to the police, but there is a dire need for mental health resources, for public school resources, for job training and job creation – so here we go,” Harris said.

“We have to be honest about this.”

When asked about the concept of The New York Times Harris had previously stated that the government would “not abolish the police.”

“We all have to think practically. But let’s keep these discussions separate,” she said.

The ad also calls Harris a “cop hater,” based on an excerpt from a 2020 MSNBC interview in which she rejected the notion that “more cops make for more safety.”

This is an accurate quote from Harris, even if the claim that she is a “cop hater” is editorial, especially since in the same interview she expressed compassion for police officers who have to deal with public health issues such as homelessness, substance abuse and mental illness.

“We should be looking at our budgets and asking ourselves whether we are getting the best return on investment as taxpayers, much less what is morally right and what is right in terms of ensuring safe and thriving communities,” Harris said.

Giving criminals the right to vote

This line of attack is based on the 2019 CNN town hall broadcast in which Harris was asked whether criminals, including those sentenced to death, should be granted the right to vote.

“I think we should have this conversation,” Harris replied.

The clip is selective, but Harris did not speak clearly on the issue. As CNN reported, just days after the incident, Harris said at an event in New Hampshire that she believes “people who commit murder, people who are terrorists” should have their rights taken away.

“Kamala Harris – wrong in economic policy”

This part of the attack ad doesn’t clearly explain its criticism. Upon closer inspection, the argument is that Harris supports policies that she says have caused “trillions in inflationary spending” and “trillions in higher taxes.” Without further context, however, viewers may believe this refers to spending that Harris helped push through or promoted.

It includes a clip in which Harris says she would have supported an end to the filibuster tactic to enable the passage of a Green New Deal.

The filibuster is the political process by which a senator speaks for an extended period of time without pausing in the House to delay a vote on a bill. A qualified majority of 60 votes is required to stop a filibuster and pass a bill.

Harris made these remarks in 2019. The argument here seems to be that passing the deal, which was rejected by the Senate that same year, would have resulted in “trillions of dollars in inflation-promoting spending.”

The other clip mentions her support for “Bernie’s Bill,” or the Medicare for All plan. That bill did not pass, and plans to fund it included taxes on families earning over $29,000, as well as taxing wealthier citizens, but not raising taxes on the middle class.

“Job-destroying policies”

The ad also accuses Harris of supporting “job-destroying policies” and cites her previous stance against natural gas extraction (fracking) as evidence.

While Harris supported a nationwide ban on fracking, she backed down from that stance under Joe Biden’s administration and rejected claims that Biden would implement a nationwide ban on fracking.

Newsweek has emailed media representatives for Donald Trump and Kamala Harris asking for comment.