Vice President Kamala Harris' record as a prosecutor has been widely panned by critics
Jesse Watters Primetime - Tuesday, July 23
Kamala Harris, The Media, Kim Cheatle
A crowd supporting the new presidential candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris chanted "lock him up!" during her first rally as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
"I was elected attorney general of the state of California, and I was a courtroom prosecutor before then. And in those roles I took on perpetrators of all kinds — predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain," Harris told voters at a Wisconsin rally Tuesday, according to a report from the New York Post. "So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type."
The line was well received by those in the audience, who enthusiastically cheered before breaking out into chants of "lock him up!"
BIDEN WILL ADDRESS NATION FROM OVAL OFFICE ON DECISION TO EXIT 2024 RACE
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump. (Getty Images)
The chants were reminiscent of those seen at rallies for then-GOP candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 election, when crowds would chant "lock her up" in reference to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s opponent that year.
Four years later, similar chants were heard at former President Trump's rallies in reference to President Biden, with the crowd chanting "lock him up!" after Trump slammed the Biden family as a "criminal enterprise."
Despite such campaign rhetoric, no federal criminal proceedings were ever pursued against either Clinton or Biden during President Trump's time in office.
The re-emergence of the chant at the Harris rally Tuesday highlights the Harris campaign’s early strategy to showcase the vice president’s history as a prosecutor, framing November’s election as a fight between her record and that of a candidate who was recently convicted on over 30 felony counts in a New York trial.
Attendees of Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign event wave signs and cheer on July 23, 2024 at West Allis Central High School. (Photo by Sara Stathas)
THE RACE TO DEFINE KAMALA HARRIS, AS PELOSI ENDORSES HER AND NO CHALLENGERS EMERGE
However, critics have been quick to pounce on Harris’ seemingly mixed record on crime.
"During the Kenosha riots, she defended the rioters, and that's in the swing state of Wisconsin, where that was very unpopular, we have to make sure voters remember all of these crazy things that she's said, and she's wanted to do," a House Republican strategist told Fox News Digital.
Harris’ record as a prosecutor was also widely panned during her 2020 presidential campaign, with critics pointing out the current vice president was particularly harsh on those who committed low-level offenses.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event on July 23, 2024 at West Allis Central High School. (Photo by Sara Stathas)
"Sen. Harris says she's proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she'll be a prosecutor president, but I'm deeply concerned about this record," former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who was at the time was a Democratic primary opponent of Harris, said during a 2020 presidential debate. "There are too many examples to cite, but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana."
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox News, Michael worked for the Washington Examiner, Bongino.com, and Unbiased America. He has covered politics for more than eight years.
