ANALYSIS: “We don’t lack hard work or good ideas; we lack access to the resources that make them a reality,” Harris said during another homerun interview, where the Democratic nominee explained her presidential vision.
Vice President Kamala Harris joined Shannon Sharpe on his highly popular podcast, “Club Shay Shay,” and delivered the kind of clear and detailed message that could win her new voters come Nov. 5.
The interview focused largely on Harris’s economic policy proposals, which she says will improve the lives of Americans, particularly Black Americans. It also provided crucial explanations for some of the frustrations that have plagued voters.
When asked why she thought she was better for the economy, Harris called out the “myths” about Trump giving out checks to Americans — a detail often referenced by voters as to why they feel they faired better financially during the former president’s time in office.
“The reason those came about is because it was a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives in Congress … who did the work of pushing to say people need help right now, and we need to out checks,” explained Harris, who noted that there was “a whole lot of opposition” from Trump and his administration.
“Congress holds the purse. So, really, Congress wrote those checks. But then Donald Trump, unlike any president before or after, decided he was going to his name on those checks.”
The vice president also touched on the issue of skyrocketing housing costs.
“We will deal with the rent issue because part of what we’re seeing in Atlanta, in places across our country … when corporations buy up properties, they eliminate competition and hike up rent prices,” Harris explained, addressing why rent is so high and unaffordable for many Americans.
“It’s about also going after that corporate gouging around what they’re doing to buy up and then jack up the prices of rent,” said the former prosecutor.
Harris also noted that before she was in the running for president, she’d started an “Economic Opportunity Tour” focused on Black communities.
“Unlike Donald Trump, who got $400 million handed to him practically on a silver platter … and filed for bankruptcy six times … I know that so many of our entrepreneurs who have great ideas don’t have access to capital, but they have serious work ethic, great ideas and a plan to do the work,” said Harris. “So part of my plan is to increase access to capital, including giving $20,000 forgivable loans for startup capital for people to buy equipment.”
“We don’t lack hard work or good ideas; we lack access to the resources that make them a reality,” she continued.
Harris’ “Club Shay Shay” interview amassed nearly 350,000 views in five hours. It continues a trend of Harris taking interviews in nontraditional settings with podcast hosts, influencers, and mainstream outlets.
Harris has shown her versatility and ability to be in the hot seat, even with adversarial hosts like FOX News’ Brett Baier.
Still, the vice president really shines when she is able to let all sides of her personality come forward — not walking a tightrope of rapid-fire trick questions aimed at getting a viral soundbite, but instead letting her guard down and showing her strength of reliability and care for a diverse American electorate.
To that point, Harris gave one of her stronger answers to Shannon Sharpe’s question about immigration and border crossings.
While it has become standard for Harris to pivot to the fact that Donald Trump blocked a bipartisan border bill in February because he didn’t want the Biden-Harris administration to have a win, this time, Harris elaborated further.
“I put my record up to anybody in terms of how strongly I feel about having a secure border and making sure that there is not that kind of trafficking into America,” Harris told Sharpe.
She continued: “We’ve got to strengthen the border, and we need to have an immigration system that is fair and humane and strong in terms of making sure that people have to earn citizenship. They have to work hard to get it. My plan includes also strengthening what we need to do in terms of … illegal entry and between ports of entry.”
The vice president said that securing the border would include hiring more Border Patrol agents and installing more technology.
However, Harris also made clear she and her opponent are not the same on the issue of immigration.
“I’m never going to talk about people from Haiti eating their pets. And I think that we also know we don’t want an immigration system that’s about separating children from their parents,” the Democratic presidential nominee clarified. ” … We can do it in a humane way. But the bottom line is we can fix these problems.”
Watch the full interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on Club Shay Shay’s YouTube channel below and register to vote at vote.gov.
Gerren Keith Gaynor
Michael Harriot
Associated Press
Haniyah Philogene
Kay Wicker
Associated Press
Gerren Keith Gaynor
Haniyah Philogene
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