On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Harris-Walz Campaign Surrogate Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) said that he doesn’t think there will be a lot of focus from voters on 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ numerous policy flips during the debate, and that while she must be “consistent,” “it’s going to be a question of style, of the bullying of” 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump.
Co-host John Roberts asked, “She does have an issues page up on her website now. But it really only seems, in some degree, to highlight the flip-flops that she’s had from her original policies that she was espousing back in 2019, everything from rejecting the EV mandate, to a border wall, to decriminalizing border crossings — but there’s not really much on that on her issues website — Medicare for All — as we were just discussing — mandatory gun buybacks, fracking, offshore drilling, even reversing yourself on a plastic straw ban. This is going to be fodder for a lot of questions tomorrow night. How do you think she’ll be able to handle the fact that she has so drastically changed, she’s done 180s, Governor, on a lot of this stuff, how will she be able to defend or explain her evolution, if you will, on these policies?”
Carney answered, “I actually don’t think there’s going to be a lot of attention — maybe for some — attention on those specific issues. I’ve been knocking on doors all over our city recently, and I don’t hear much about any of those issues. I think it’s going to be a question of style, of the bullying of former President Trump…he referred to the Mike Tyson comment [about] surviving a punch in the face. He’s going to try to punch the Vice President in the face and we’ll see how that goes over. And I think her challenge is to hold her ground, to be consistent, and to lay out for the American people, or at least the narrow portion of the American people who haven’t decided yet who they’re going to support in the election.”
Roberts then said that he thinks Trump wasn’t talking about literally punching Harris and was talking about how people go into debates with plans, until they get metaphorically hit.
Carney responded, “I think what it refers to is the way he approaches these debates. He just comes in thinking about throwing punches in a boxing match, one after another after another, and you just really have to hold your ground with respect to your point of view, whatever the issue seems to be or is in the moment. And I think she’ll be fine. I think that the former President has done a lot of these debates. He has never debated somebody like Vice President Harris, and I think she’s going to be a very different person to deal with in that forum.”
Earlier in the interview, Carney said that he doesn’t think Harris supports decriminalizing the border or favor eliminating private health insurance.
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