Whether its Harris’ comments that there’s nothing she would change about her time in office with President Joe Biden, her focus on the evils of “disinformation” or Walz’ call for the end of the electoral college, some Republicans see missteps that could benefit the GOP in a few weeks.
In the face of sinking poll numbers, the Harris campaign decided to switch strategies. Instead of avoiding the media, they have sent her on a friendly media blitz with appearances on 60-Minutes, Howard Stern, and Stephen Colbert. During an appearance on the View on ABC she was asked this question.
"If anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?"
"There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of that, and I've been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact,” Harris responded.
Robert Knight is a columnist for The Washington Times. He says her owns words can be used against her so easily.
"Just run clips back and forth to show her dishonesty. I can't think of a richer vein to tap than Kamala Harris' many statements that are so contradictory. The Republicans can go to town on this stuff. She's been all over the map. But I think tying her to Biden will be the easiest thing of all. Here's how the ad ought to be written. You tick off the unpopular policies, and then you have Kamala Harris in a clip saying, ‘I wouldn't have done anything differently.’ That's pretty convicting."
Hello mates, this is how it’s done
Now, newly released documents show that senior Biden-Harris administration officials received pointers from British "disinformation" officials about partnering with social media companies and establishing an all-of-government effort for fighting disfavored content that includes elections and COVID-19. The revelation comes as Congress is investigating potential censorship efforts by the White House in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
"What they call misinformation is usually disagreement with one of their policies. We saw that big time during the COVID pandemic when doctors and others were banned and de-platformed from social media for dissenting from the government's, frankly, lies that they were telling. Anyone who questioned these narratives was censored basically on social media."
Knight says this is what Kamala is talking about.
"She wants to stamp out misinformation, and she's looking to other countries. The United Kingdom has been ahead of the United States in this kind of censorship practice. I think Kamala Harris is basically saying we want to be more like the United Kingdom and go around the First Amendment.”
A Harris administration could lead to censorship on levels the U.S. has never seen, Knight said.
“If these people get into power again, I'm afraid we're going to see the kind of censorship that was only hinted at during COVID in terms of election integrity. People questioning the election and pointing out abnormalities were also censored on social media."
Walz, the Minnesota governor and Harris’ vice-presidential running mate, opened his own can of worms at a fundraiser in California when he called for the elimination of the electoral college.
"I think all of us know the Electoral College needs to go. We need a national popular vote," Walz said Tuesday during a campaign fundraiser at the home of Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom. Walz made similar comments at an earlier fundraiser in Seattle, as well.
While running for president in 2019, Harris said she was "open" to the idea of abolishing the Electoral College.
"The Electoral College ensures that all the states have a say, and it's no wonder the Democrats are trying to get rid of it. They want a straight popular vote because then California and New York can dominate the election. But if California wants to go off the deep end they shouldn't be allowed to drag down the rest of the country. That's what they're talking about doing,” Knight said.
Walking back Walz
According to campaign officials pressed on the issue following Walz's remarks, eliminating the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote is not an official position of Harris' current campaign.
Walz has avoided further comment, but the campaign released a statement saying his remarks were intended to express support for the Electoral College process, Fox News reported.
In 2023 Walz signed the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. In it, each state would allocate all its electoral votes to whoever wins the popular vote for president, regardless of how individual states voted. The compact would take effect only if supporters secure pledges from states with at least 270 electoral votes.
“A number of liberal states have actually passed laws saying that they will adopt this Interstate compact and cast all their electoral votes to the candidate with the most popular votes nationwide, even if that person loses in their state. That's completely unconstitutional.
“They would have to amend the Constitution, but this could cause all kinds of chaos in the meantime. I think the good news is that all the states that are dumb enough to do this have already done so, and the states that know better aren't going anywhere near it. So, I'm hoping this campaign to undermine the constitution when it comes to our elections is stopped in tracks,” Knight said.
