On the menu today: The editorial board of the Washington Post offers a list of questions they would like to ask Vice President Kamala Harris if she would ever agree to an interview. It’s a good list, and there’s some overlap with mine below, but I believe Harris’s avoidance of the press and unexplained flip-flops on so many issues call for a more skeptical and challenging tone. Read on.
The Questions Kamala Harris Is Unlikely to Ever Answer
Domestic Affairs*
Vice President Harris:
We are told, through your campaign staff, that you no longer hold the positions you espoused when seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Back then, you supported banning fracking, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defunding the police, instituting mandatory buybacks of assault weapons, eliminating private health insurance, and guaranteeing federal jobs.
In 2019, you said you were open to expanding the size of the Supreme Court. Now, a spokesman says you no longer hold that position.
You spent much of your time in the U.S. Senate and presidential campaign arguing, “We are not going to treat people who are undocumented and cross the border as criminals,” and “an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.” Now, according to your staff, your position is that “unauthorized border crossings are illegal.” What caused you to change your mind on these issues? Did you learn more that convinced you that your old positions were wrong, unfeasible, or ill-informed? Or is it that those were the positions that you felt were most popular in a Democratic presidential primary, and now you’re running in a general election? What guarantee does any voter have that your new positions won’t be as quickly and quietly abandoned as the old ones once you’re elected?
Your allies insist you were not the “border czar,” even though in March 2021, President Biden announced you would “lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that help — are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border.” Stipulating that your allies prefer the term “migration czar,” where were all those migrants headed toward? Wasn’t it the U.S.–Mexico border? How can you or anyone else contend that you could be the administration’s point person for “migration” without having any role in, or responsibility for, our policies and the enforcement of them at the border? Just what did you do in this position?
In June 2021, you traveled to Guatemala and during a press conference said to those contemplating attempting to enter the U.S. illegally, “Do not come.” Is there any evidence that anyone in Guatemala or anywhere else listened to you and heeded your instructions? Was there any way to mitigate the effects of those migrants attempting to enter the country without better border security?
Do you still oppose any new border wall or fence construction? Why do you think the United States has 700 miles of primary barriers along our southern border? When the Biden administration built 20 miles of new wall in October 2023, declaring, “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States,” and waiving more than 20 federal laws and regulations to allow for the construction of the barriers, what was your reaction?
If fences don’t work, why did your administration build more of them? And if they do work, why have you staunchly opposed additional construction?
Here are the charts for southwest border encounters from January 2021 to June 2024. Note that just about every month was substantially higher than that month in preceding years. Please point to the part that you feel indicates you did a good job as the administration’s “migration” czar.
In September 2022, you went on Meet the Press and claimed, “The border is secure” and “we have a secure border.” Had you recently suffered a concussion? Do you have any vision problems that the American public should be aware of?
How would you rate the performance of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas? In a Harris administration, can we expect cabinet appointments of similar caliber and effectiveness?
You keep saying, “On Day One,” as in, “On Day One, I will take on price gouging and bring down costs.” What is your current job title?
If, as has been widely reported, you are indeed the current vice president of the United States, why are you unable to enact any of these policies right now? Have you mentioned these ideas to President Biden? Does President Biden oppose any of these ideas you’re proposing?
Speaking of President Biden, when did you notice that old age was starting to impede his ability to do his duties? What did you do? Whom did you tell? Earlier this year, Axios reported that “from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Biden is dependably engaged.” How would you characterize the president outside of those hours? Does that sound like an acceptable number of hours for the president of the United States to be of sound mind each day? Was the administration’s plan to hope that all crises requiring presidential attention and decisions would occur between late morning and mid afternoon?
In June 2022, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre went on CNN to rebut reports that the president’s age or stamina might pose a challenge for his reelection bid and said, “I can’t even keep up with him.” Does that sound like an accurate description to you? Do you feel it is acceptable for White House officials to mislead the public about the president’s health and abilities?
What caused the U.S. inflation rate to spike from 1.4 percent in January 2021 to 9.1 percent in June 2022? Is your contention that roughly $24 trillion in federal spending and $6 trillion in new public debt have nothing to do with the high inflation of recent years? What happens when the supply of money increases dramatically, but the supply of goods and services does not increase at a similar rate?
In 2020, U.S. oil-refinery capacity was 18,662,000 barrels per day. As of May 2024, it was 18,326,000 barrels per day. How, exactly, is the U.S. supposed to bring down oil prices if we never increase our capacity to turn oil into the stuff that runs our cars?
Hey, what fuel does your motorcade run on? What fuel does Air Force Two run on? When was the last time you pumped your own gas?
You now say you want to exempt tips from federal taxes. Why? Aren’t tips income? Why did this idea not occur to you until you were running for president and needed to win Nevada, and after Donald Trump had proposed it? Why should anyone see this proposal as anything but a desperate ploy to win a key swing state and/or lock down the stripper vote?
Foreign Affairs
Layla Elabed, the co-chair of the Uncommitted National Movement, a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel group, met with you in Michigan shortly before you went on stage for a rally and described the meeting this way:
You know, when I mentioned that our community members are losing tens of hundreds of their family members, she said, “It’s horrific.” And when I said, “Will you meet with us to talk about an arms embargo?” she said, “Yes, we’ll meet with you.”
Whether or not you intended to leave her with the impression you were open to an arms embargo, you did so. Your national-security adviser later went on Twitter and stated you “will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel.”
But the Biden administration has paused indefinitely the delivery of a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. You look like you’re trying to have it both ways. So, are you going to restrict any arms sales to Israel or not? Would you un-“pause” the delivery of those bombs or not?
In 2019, you promised to “protect the gains that have been made for Afghan women and others, and [ensure] that [Afghanistan] never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists.” How’s that going lately?
Reports this year declare al-Qaeda is “thriving” in Afghanistan. Isn’t that a clear sign that the country is, once again, a safe haven for terrorists, which is exactly what you promised to prevent? The Taliban is getting access to roughly $40 million per week that the United Nations is sending to keep the Afghan economy going, and the largest donor to those U.N. efforts is the U.S. taxpayer. Please explain how this arrangement serves the interests of Americans and represents a foreign-policy triumph of the administration you serve.
In mid February 2022, roughly a week before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, you attended the Munich Security Conference and met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president “urged the U.S. to impose preemptive sanctions against Russia, arguing that would force Vladimir Putin to rethink his decision to invade. . . . If the attack was indeed unavoidable, Zelensky argued, the U.S. should flood weapons into Ukraine, including the anti-aircraft systems, fighter jets and heavy artillery needed to prevent Russian forces from overrunning the country.” You said no to both requests. Why? Knowing what you know now, would you give the same answer again?
Knowing what you know now, would you give the same answer?
Should the Ukrainians be allowed to use U.S. weapons to target Russian forces in pre-war Russian territory, and if not, why not? Should they be allowed to use U.S. weapons to target Russian oil refineries? Would you be more open to the idea if the Ukrainians characterized the drone strikes on the refineries as an effort to reduce the use of fossil fuels?
Biden administration officials said they moved at “lightning speed” to decide to allow the Ukrainians to strike targets within a limited portion of Russian territory. This took 17 days. Can we expect similar “lightning speed” decisions during your presidency?
Speaking of “lightning speed,” President Biden announced the U.S. would provide Ukraine 31 Abrams tanks in January 2023, and they weren’t delivered until mid October. It took more than a year to deliver F-16 fighter jets. Do you consider this a good job? Is there any reason to think that when you’re in the Oval Office, this process will move any faster or more smoothly?
What would your administration do to prevent or deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan that the Biden administration is not already doing? The backlog of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan grew in June 2024 to $20.5 billion. These are weapons systems and ammunition that the Taiwanese government has already paid for, but that we have failed to deliver — tanks, missiles, torpedoes, fighter jets, ammunition, spare parts, drones, you name it. Why does this administration keep saying it wants to deter a Chinese invasion but refusing to take actions to do so?
In 2020, you said, “I unequivocally agree with the goal of reducing the defense budget” and added you wanted to send that money to “communities in need.” What is it about the current geopolitical circumstances that makes you think the U.S. needs to spend less on defense rather than more? Note the high inflation rate of the past three years. Note that under President Biden, the U.S. Navy has shrunk from 306 ships to 296 ships. The Navy calculates that to adequately perform its duties it needs 381 ships.
*You thought there would be a Willie Brown joke in there, didn’t you?
ADDENDUM: Over in that other place I write for, I point out that Biden managed to run a basement campaign and be the least-accessible president in four decades, and Harris has avoided any interviews or formal press conferences for a month, because Democrats don’t care. They don’t actually want their leaders to be asked questions or challenged.
A reminder:
She wants to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month — about three weeks from now.
For perspective, early voting begins in Pennsylvania on Sept. 16. In Minnesota, Vermont and Virginia, early voting begins around Sept. 20.