The New York Times reported that Trump was 'weaponizing' Harris' far-left beliefs from her short-lived 2020 presidential campaign
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Vice President Harris' more liberal stances during her 2020 presidential campaign have been framed by members of the media as just accusations from the Republican Party and former President Trump, as she's poised to take President Biden's spot at the top of the Democratic ticket.
"I think the Republicans are trying to frame her as this deep leftist. She’s a former prosecutor. She’s not only a former prosecutor, she was the AG of the largest Department of Justice in the country, other than the real Department of Justice. Prosecutors are not really leftist," Sunny Hostin, a liberal co-host on "The View," said Friday. "They put people in jail for a living, okay? They’re pretty moderate. I know the vice president personally. She’s moderate."
While running for president in 2019, Harris declared there was "no question" she favored banning fracking. Harris also supported the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which helped bail Black Lives Matter rioters out of jail in 2020.
Hostin continued to defend Harris and said running as a "law and order candidate" in 2020 would not have been a good idea, insisting that she was leaning more into who she really is now.
Media outlets and pundits have referred to Vice President Harris' past liberal viewpoints to mere attacks from Donald Trump, despite her decision to moderate on certain issues. (Left: (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images FOR ESSENCE), Center: (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images), Right: (Screenshot/CNN), Right: (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images))
MONTAGE: LIBERAL MEDIA TRIES TO DOWNPLAY KAMALA HARRIS' BORDER RESPONSIBILITIES
Other outlets framed Harris' previous positions as simply attacks coming from her opponents.
The New York Times reported on Monday that the GOP was weaponizing Harris' previous stances.
"One presidential cycle later, with Vice President Harris less than a week into another race for the White House, video clips of her old statements and interviews are being weaponized as Republicans aim to define her as a left-wing radical who is out of step with swing voters," the report read.
In a post to social media, the New York Times wrote, "Republicans are digging up the progressive statements Kamala Harris made during her 2020 presidential campaign as they aim to define her as a left-wing radical who is out of step with swing voters."
Republicans are digging up the progressive statements Kamala Harris made during her 2020 presidential campaign as they aim to define her as a left-wing radical who is out of step with swing voters. https://t.co/Ijh8RUrgye
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 29, 2024
Harris appeared to support an overhaul of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, and told MSNBC in 2018, "There’s no question that we’ve got to critically reexamine ICE and its role, and the way that it is being administered, and the work it is doing. And we need to probably think about starting from scratch."
She also supported abolishing the filibuster to pass the Green New Deal, according to multiple reports on Harris' more liberal positions from her 2020 campaign.
The vice president supported mandatory gun buybacks, and said she was open to having a conversation about expanding the Supreme Court.
However, Biden and Harris recently called for reforms to the Supreme Court that did not include adding justices. Biden called on Congress to impose term limits on Supreme Court justices and create a code of conduct for the justices.
Politico was called out for a headline that suggested Harris' previous liberal stance on banning fracking was just an "accusation" by Trump.
Politico changed a headline focused on Vice President Harris' position on fracking. ((Photo by Montinique Monroe/Getty Images), Screenshot/Politico)
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Harris' campaign recently said she would not ban fracking, a key issue in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Politico eventually updated the headline, which previously read, "Harris campaign pledges she won't ban fracking after Trump accusation."
CNN's John Berman questioned Sen. Dick Durbin on Tuesday about Harris' decision to moderate her stance on some issues.
"The Republicans in the Trump campaign are now trying to label the vice president as a liberal. What will it take to keep that from sticking?" Berman asked after noting some of her positions.
"I think they’re going to find that a former prosecutor, the state attorney general in California, who served on the Senate Judiciary Committee with me, has a lot more to her background than just simple labeling," Durbin responded.
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024. (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)
After Harris was chosen to be Biden's vice president in 2020, several pundits and columnists defended her as a "moderate," or centrist.
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos said Harris was a "moderate" and "middle of the road" choice. Washington Post columnist David Byler deemed Harris a "small-c conservative", suggesting she was a "friendly pick."
Harris served as San Francisco's District Attorney and California's Attorney General before being elected to the U.S. Senate. She launched a bid for the presidency in 2020 but dropped out of the race and was eventually selected as Biden's vice presidential pick.
A GovTrack analysis found Harris was one of the "most liberal" U.S. senators in 2019. The webpage was removed in the last two weeks, Fox News Digital confirmed.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
