In her first interview after 40 days as a presidential candidate, she mostly stuck to empty phrases instead of giving details about her political program. Nevertheless, Kamala Harris confidently overcame the next hurdle on the road to the White House. In the words of Barack Obama’s former adviser David Axelrod: “It was not a step forward, but certainly not a step back!”
Donald Trump’s camp waited in vain for the vice president to contradict herself or get bogged down in confusing sentences under pressure from critical questions – as she has often done in the past. Instead, the “Marxist” – as her opponents incorrectly label her – became a champion of centrist politics. With promises such as arms supplies to Israel, tougher measures against illegal immigration and the green light for the controversial “fracking” gas production method, Harris could also have scored points in the Republican primaries.
Republicans rage over ‘soft questions’
The Republican camp’s angry reaction to Dana Bash’s “soft questions” on CNN left no doubt that the nervousness in the Trump camp is growing after Harris’ performance. With her calm pragmatism, the 59-year-old managed to create a clear contrast to Trump’s bombastic and often egocentric manner. True to the motto “We want to open a new chapter for America,” she did not want to get involved in mudslinging and put the issue of race or gender in the spotlight. When Bash tried to get a reaction from her about Trump’s racist provocations about her Indian-Jamaican heritage, she calmly countered with “next question, please!”
The former president now seems to suspect, at the very least, that he can’t win over undecided voters with personal attacks on Harris. That’s the only way to explain why he’s suddenly made a stunning about-face on the crucial issue of abortion and women’s reproductive rights. The proud pro-life crusader, whose 50-year Supreme Court justices he appointed to overturned the nation’s right to abortion, shocked his own supporters by announcing he would vote for a pro-abortion referendum in Florida that would repeal Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on abortions at six weeks of pregnancy and raise the limit on legal abortions to 24 weeks.
U-turn in abortion causes problems
The outrage within his own party, from anti-abortion groups and evangelicals, was enormous. Influential conservative commentator Eric Erikson decried: “Instead of all of us focusing on Harris’s political contradictions, Trump has decided to further divide our party — with even greater contradictions for the MAGA movement. Trump responded to the shitstorm in typical fashion.” He backtracked and announced that he would vote against the referendum — presumably as he had always intended.
The day after the interview with Harris, Trump again announced that he would “destroy” his rival during the presidential debate on September 10 in Philadelphia. But some Republican advisers suddenly have doubts about that. Because the ex-president seems thinner and therefore more undisciplined than ever in his statements. While Trump’s side runs around with a fire extinguisher, Harris’ side will try to light the fuse. The American election campaign promises to be even more explosive.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
