Democrats Block Policies Kamala Harris Suddenly Claims She Supports

Research | The Leader Board | THE NEWSROOM | Republican LeaderSkip to primary navigation Skip to content×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER McCONNELL×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER McCONNELLxxsearchxMENUFacebookTwitterInstagramFacebookTwitterInstagramVisit Senator McConnell's site here THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER McCONNELLxxsearchxMENUHomeTHE NEWSROOMThe Leader Board09.19.24Democrats Block Policies Kamala Harris Suddenly Claims She SupportsSenate Democrats Must Not Have Gotten The Memo Announcing The New Policies The Vice President’s Spokespeople Say She Now SupportsSENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “In the weeks since Washington Democrats made Vice President Harris their nominee, the American people have had their hands full trying to figure out where her campaign stands on the issues at the top of their mind. They’ve got serious questions about her role in everything from the runaway spending that gave them the worst inflation in forty years… to the open-borders policies that invited the worst humanitarian and security crisis the southern border has ever seen. And thus far, they haven’t received many answers. The problem is not that the Vice President doesn’t have a record. She’s campaigned for President once before, and worked hand-in-hand with President Biden for four years since. Instead, the problem is that on issue after issue, Vice President Harris has, at one time or another, played both sides. Well, working families want to know which side she’s on. … Policies matter. They can quite literally be the difference between affording gas and groceries and going without. Voters are fed up with flip-flops. And the Vice President ought to come clean.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 9/18/2024)SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-AL): “Vice President Harris now says she has changed policy positions on some of our country’s most pressing issues … Let’s see if her own party believes her claims, or whether they’ll defend the radical policy positions Vice President Harris has long held and the Biden-Harris Administration has imposed for these painful past few years.” (“GOP Will Force Senate Dems To Block Border Wall, Migrant Crime Bills,” Axios, 9/18/2024)·       “Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) will force Democrats to block two border and immigration bills Wednesday, as Republicans try to flip the script on Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) ‘show votes.’” (“GOP Will Force Senate Dems To Block Border Wall, Migrant Crime Bills,” Axios, 9/18/2024)·       “Britt’s moves are part of a broader GOP effort this week to draw attention to issues where Harris has flip-flopped as well as fight back against the series of ‘show votes’ Schumer has forced Republicans to take — including on the border.” (“GOP Will Force Senate Dems To Block Border Wall, Migrant Crime Bills,” Axios, 9/18/2024)“Harris has backed off key policy stances from her 2020 presidential run, including her support for decriminalizing illegal border crossings, a ban on fracking and mandatory buy-back programs for assault weapons.” (“GOP Will Force Senate Dems To Block Border Wall, Migrant Crime Bills,” Axios, 9/18/2024)·       “Harris aligned herself with what looked to be a rising Democratic left. She was the first senator to co-sponsor Sanders’ Medicare for All plan, a vast restructuring of the US health-care system. She also lined up with progressives to support a ban on fracking on public lands and the decriminalization of unauthorized border crossings. But once it became clear that these positions were unpopular outside of the Democratic activist class, Harris began awkwardly backing away from them…” (Bloomberg, 9/17/2024) Sure Enough, Senate Democrats Blocked Legislation To Build The Border Wall And To Prevent A President From Unilaterally Banning FrackingSEN. BRITT: “I just want to recap a couple of things. I mean, here we have today a fracking bill that’s been put on the floor but yet blocked by Democrats. We have a bill here just now closing asylum loopholes, helping unaccompanied children get back to their family, but that’s been blocked by Democrats. Earlier, you saw us put a bill on the floor that would actually help build a barrier on our southern border, but yet that was blocked by Democrats.” (Sen. Britt, Congressional Record, S6130, 9/18/2024)Democrats Blocked Sen. Britt’s Legislation To Appropriate Money To Finish Building The Border WallSEN. BRITT: “When we have looked at how Vice President Harris is running, it is obviously very different than the way she served. If you look back in 2020, Vice President Harris said, ‘Trump’s border wall is a complete waste of taxpayer money and won’t make us any safer.’ I am wondering if she will put a disclaimer that says that underneath her commercials that focus on and show the border wall. She said, as a Senator, that she vowed to block any funding for the border wall and urged her colleagues to reject any funding for the border wall, which is actually exactly what they continued to do and you saw them do here today. Here is the deal: You can’t have it both ways. Kamala Harris either wants to secure our border—which she has had ample time to do—building barriers that help us keep Americans safe or she doesn’t, which is what we have seen throughout her tenure both in the Senate and as Vice President. But yet now she is campaigning as something totally different. We saw here today that her newfound support of a border wall is not supported by her Democratic colleagues here in the Senate. I look forward to hearing more about what we have seen on the campaign trail versus, in actuality, where she stands.” (Sen. Britt, Congressional Record, S6130, 9/18/2024)·       SEN. BRITT: “To paraphrase the Majority Leader from his remarks yesterday, we are going to give our Democratic colleagues another chance to show the American people where they stand. We’ll start today with a few bills related to energy and border security … Last year, I introduced the WALL Act. This legislation is common sense and with a clear aim. It would appropriate funding needed to finish actually building a barrier on our southern border…. So today we’re giving Senate Democrats a very clear choice. Now, watch what happens next very closely. Let’s see how they answer these questions. Do they support building a border wall or will they block building a border wall? … I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S.332 and the Senate proceed to immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.” (Sen. Britt, Congressional Record, S6123, 9/18/2024)SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-WA): “Today, I object.” (Sen. Murray, Congressional Record, S6124, 9/18/2024)And Democrats Blocked House-Passed Legislation To Prevent A President From Unilaterally Banning FrackingSEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): “[T]he bill that I bring forward today is [the] Protecting American Energy Production Act. It’s real simple. It allows us to be energy independent. The backbone of our economy is energy, and if you have high energy costs, which we’ve had a 37% increase in [the price of] energy under this current administration, you obviously are going to have inflation increase because energy is the backbone of our economy…. [W]hat Republicans are trying to do here today is bolster American energy production by preventing this administration and future administrations from banning fracking. As I said, as the current Vice President openly said in 2019, she was 100% for banning fracking across the United States.” (Sen. Mullin, Congressional Record, S6124-6125, 9/18/2024)·       SEN. MULLIN: “… I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from further consideration of H.R.1121 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; further, the bill to be considered read a third time and passed, and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.” (Sen. Mullin, Congressional Record, S6124, 9/18/2024)SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): “… I object.” (Sen. Merkley, Congressional Record, S6125, 9/18/2024) Kamala Harris Previously Declared A Border Wall ‘A Complete Waste Of Taxpayer Money And Won’t Make Us Any Safer’ But Now Claims She Supports Building A Wall“As she tries to strengthen her image on the border, Harris will have to reckon with her years of opposing some of the very policies she now embraces. That includes building more border wall and also making it harder for migrants to come to the US seeking asylum.” (“Harris Move To The Center On Border Wall, Asylum Contradicts Her Years Of Progressive Immigration Positions,” CNN, 9/04/2024)·       “After more than 3½ years in the Biden administration, Harris has largely shifted from framing herself as a longtime immigrant advocate to a tough border hawk.” (“Progressives Hope Harris’ Border Shift Is Temporary,” Axios, 9/18/2024)Harris Derided A Border Wall As ‘Stupid,’ ‘Useless,’ And A ‘Medieval Vanity Project’ Vowing She’d ‘Block Any Funding’ For One, While Branding It ‘Un-American’“In declaring her candidacy in her first run for president in 2019, Harris called the wall Trump’s ‘medieval vanity project’ that wasn’t going to stop transnational gangs from entering the U.S. In February 2020, Harris wrote on Facebook that ‘Trump’s border wall is a complete waste of taxpayer money and won’t make us any safer.’ In April 2017, soon after joining the Senate, Harris said the wall was a ‘stupid use of money. I will block any funding for it.’” (“Harris Flip-Flops On Building The Border Wall,” Axios, 8/27/2024)THEN-SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): “[T]he idea that we would have a president of the United States that vilifies immigrants, that wants to build what I call his vanity project, a multibillion dollar wall which, by the way, will never get built, is un- American. Deal with the problem. We have 11 million people here who need a pathway to citizenship. Be a leader on that.” (MSNBC’s “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell,” 6/18/2019)HARRIS: “[T]his is a crisis of the President’s own making, to fulfil his own quest to build a vanity project called the wall. This is irresponsible, it’s the height of irresponsibility. For the commander-in-chief to suggest that we have to build a wall across our southern border because there are terrorists who are trying to invade the country, it couldn’t be farther from the truth. … We don’t need to build a wall. This is a crisis of his own making.” (WMUR’s “Close Up,” 2/18/2019)“In her 2019 book, ‘The Truths We Hold,’ Harris called the wall ‘useless’ and said it was ‘nothing more than a symbol, a monument standing in opposition to not just everything I value, but to the fundamental values upon which this country was built.’ A CNN KFile review of Harris’ social media posts found that she criticized the border wall more than 50 times during the Trump administration, calling it, among other things, ‘stupid,’ ‘useless,’ and a ‘medieval vanity project.’” (“Harris Move To The Center On Border Wall, Asylum Contradicts Her Years Of Progressive Immigration Positions,” CNN, 9/04/2024)But Harris Now Claims She’d Sign Legislation To Fund Border Wall Construction“If she’s elected president, Kamala Harris pledges to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the wall along the southern border — a project she once opposed and called ‘un-American’ during the Trump administration.” (“Harris Flip-Flops On Building The Border Wall,” Axios, 8/27/2024)·       “But during her time as vice president, Harris voiced support for the bipartisan border bill a group of senators penned earlier this year — which includes hundreds of [millions] of dollars for the border wall. During her speech at the Democratic National Convention … she said she would sign the legislation if it landed on her desk.” (“5 Issues Where Harris Has Shifted To The Center,” The Hill, 8/29/2024) FLASHBACK: Harris Previously Advocated Other Extreme Border Positions, Including Dismantling ICE, Halting Deportations, And Decriminalizing Illegal Border Crossings Altogether“As [Harris] campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination ahead of the 2020 election, she was firmly to the left of Biden and many of her rivals on immigration issues.” (“Kamala Harris Spent Her Political Career Supporting Immigrants. As Vice President, It Got More Complicated,” Los Angeles Times, 7/26/2024)Harris Not Only Advocated ‘Starting From Scratch’ By Abolishing ICE, She Outrageously Compared The Agency To The KlanTHEN- SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): “I think 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.” (“Calls To Abolish ICE Are Splintering The Democratic Party,” BuzzFeed News, 7/02/2018)·       “Sen. Kamala Harris just put Democrats on the spot with a challenging question: What should be done about ICE? The California Democrat, a possible 2020 presidential candidate, said she is so frustrated with how federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement treats migrants that the government should consider ‘starting from scratch’ with an undefined overhaul of the 15-year-old agency…. It’s about as far as any prominent Democrat has gone in reaction to a year-and-a-half’s worth of Trump administration efforts to limit legal and illegal immigration …” (“Kamala Harris Out Front On New Litmus Test For Dems: What To Do About ICE?,” San Francisco Chronicle, 6/25/2018)·       “Harris was one of the leading Senate critics of ICE even before the ‘zero tolerance’ tactics began dominating the news this month. In May, she and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., introduced legislation calling for a moratorium on new ICE detention facilities. In March, Harris called for a decrease in funding for ICE, and in December, she grilled Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen about whether the agency would target young undocumented immigrants temporarily protected from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Calling for an ICE reboot, however, is a leap ahead.” (“Kamala Harris Out Front On New Litmus Test For Dems: What To Do About ICE?,” San Francisco Chronicle, 6/25/2018)“Sen. Kamala Harris compared ICE, the federal deportation agency, to the Ku Klux Klan Thursday, drawing a fierce retort from the agency’s acting director who said there is no equivalence between patriotic officers enforcing the law, and a racist mob bent on violence and intimidation.” (“Kamala Harris Draws Comparison Between ICE And KKK,” The Washington Times, 11/15/2018)·       “The exchange came as Ronald D. Vitiello, the acting director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, appeared before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which is considering his nomination to become permanent ICE director. Mr. Vitiello chided sanctuary cities for refusing to cooperate on deportations, promised to work on pay issues for ICE officers, and demanded respect for his employees who he said deserve not to be pilloried by politicians, the press or activists looking to score political points.” (“Kamala Harris Draws Comparison Between ICE And KKK,” The Washington Times, 11/15/2018)·       “Minutes later Ms. Harris, a California Democrat who’s eyeing a 2020 presidential bid, said there are ‘many’ people who perceive ICE officers as similar to KKK thugs in using violence and intimidation.” (“Kamala Harris Draws Comparison Between ICE And KKK,” The Washington Times, 11/15/2018)Harris Advocated For Decriminalizing Illegal Border Crossings And Opposed Deportations“Harris raised her hand during the first Democratic debate when a moderator asked which candidates think crossing the border without documentation should be a civil offense rather than a crime.” (“Where 2020 Democrats Stand On Immigration,” The Washington Post, 4/08/2020)“Crossing the border without permission is a crime, but the law prohibiting it has often gone unenforced since it was passed in 1929. Instead, most first-time violators are deported under civil, not criminal, proceedings. But a debate is growing over whether the criminal law should be eliminated entirely…” (“Some Democrats Want To Decriminalize Illegal Border Crossings. Would It Work?” The New York Times, 7/31/2019)·       “The proposal met with wide approval. Eight of the 10 candidates on stage raised their hands, including three who appeared to go on record backing the idea for the first time: Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), as well as former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.” (“2020 Democrats Overwhelmingly Back Decriminalizing Border Crossings In Thursday Debate,” The Huffington Post, 6/28/2019) HARRIS: “Let me just be very clear: we have to have a secure border. But I am in favor of saying that we’re not going to treat people who are undocumented [and] cross the borders as criminals, that is correct. … I would not make it punishable by jail … It should be a civil enforcement issue, but not a criminal enforcement issue.” (“Harris, Meghan McCain Spar Over Decriminalization Of Border Crossings,” The Hill, 7/12/2019)“California Attorney General Kamala Harris made waves this week after telling the San Francisco Chronicle that ‘an undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.’” (“‘Undocumented Immigrant Not A Criminal,’ California Attorney General Says,” KCLA News, 4/17/2015)·       “‘An undocumented immigrant is not a criminal,’ she reiterated. ‘I’m a career prosecutor. I’ve personally prosecuted everything from low-level offenses to homicides. Unfortunately, I know what crime looks like. I know what a criminal looks like who’s committing a crime. An undocumented immigrant is not a criminal.’” (“‘Undocumented Immigrant Not A Criminal,’ California Attorney General Says,” KCLA News, 4/17/2015)·       “In her first official speech as a U.S. senator in 2017, Harris railed against President Trump’s executive actions targeting immigrants. ‘I know what a crime looks like, and I will tell you: An undocumented immigrant is not a criminal,’ she said. ‘The truth is the vast majority of immigrants in this country are hardworking people who deserve a pathway to citizenship.’” (“Kamala Harris Spent Her Political Career Supporting Immigrants. As Vice President, It Got More Complicated,” Los Angeles Times, 7/26/2024)NBC’s JOSE DIAZ-BALART: “Should someone who is here without documents, and that is his only offense, should that person be deported?” HARRIS: “I will say -- no, absolutely not, they should not be deported. And I actually -- this was one of the very few issues with which I disagreed with the [Obama] administration, with whom I always had a great relationship and a great deal of respect. But on the secure communities issue, I was attorney general of California. I led the second-largest Department of Justice in the United States, second only to the United States Department of Justice, in a state of 40 million people. And on this issue, I disagreed with my president, because the policy was to allow deportation of people who by ICE’s own definition were non-criminals. So as attorney general, and the chief law officer of the state of California, I issued a directive to the sheriffs of my state that they did not have to comply with detainers, and instead should make decisions based on the best interests of public safety of their community.” (“Full Transcript: 2019 Democratic Debate Night Two, Sortable By Topic,” NBC News, 6/28/2019)Harris Supported Sanctuary City Policies In San Francisco And California And Opposed Efforts To Rein Them In“When Harris became the district attorney of San Francisco in 2004, she quickly established herself as a supporter of immigrant rights…. She continued that bent as state attorney general, most notably opposing a Republican bill in Congress that would have withheld federal funding from California police who complied with the state’s sanctuary law that limited how long they could hold migrants for transfer to immigration custody.” (“Kamala Harris Spent Her Political Career Supporting Immigrants. As Vice President, It Got More Complicated,” Los Angeles Times, 7/26/2024)·       “For about two decades before this, San Francisco had been a ‘sanctuary city,’ or one that limits cooperation with the federal government in enforcing immigration law, offering protections from deportation to undocumented residents…. Harris’ district attorney office continued to support San Francisco as a sanctuary city during that time.” (“What Is Kamala Harris’ Record On Immigration? She Has A Willingness To Adapt, Advocates Say,” The Sacramento Bee, 7/23/2024) Harris Previously Boasted That She Was Unequivocally ‘In Favor Of Banning Fracking’ Yet Now Her Campaign Disavows That Stance Without Any ExplanationIn 2019, Harris Declared, ‘There’s No Question I’m In Favor Of Banning Fracking’“Senator Kamala Harris of California, who on Wednesday morning released a plan to put a price on carbon, used the debate stage to take a page straight out of [Gov. Jay] Inslee’s [D-WA] playbook. She pledged to enact aggressive environmental policies that just a few years ago were voiced only by the most left-wing candidates — calling for outright bans on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas, and on offshore oil and gas drilling.” (“Climate Town Hall: Several Democratic Candidates Embrace a Carbon Tax,” The New York Times, 9/04/2019)·       THEN-SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking, so yes. And starting -- and starting with what we can do on day one around public lands, right? And then there has to be legislation, but yes -- and this is something I’ve taken on in California. I have a history of working on this issue. And to your point, we have to just acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the impact on the health and safety of communities -- yeah, so thank you.” (CNN Town Hall, 9/04/2019)Now, ‘Harris’s Campaign Has Since Emphasized That, As President, She Would Not Seek A Fracking Ban’ Yet ‘Did Not Explain The Candidate’s Shift In Thinking’“[A]s Harris sought the presidential nomination in 2020, she made crystal clear she would side with liberals in support of eliminating the controversial practice. ‘There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,’ Harris said at the time…. Harris’s campaign has since emphasized that, as president, she would not seek a fracking ban.” (“5 Issues Where Harris Has Shifted To The Center,” The Hill, 8/29/2024)“After years of positioning herself as a climate crusader and ardent opponent of fracking, Kamala Harris has avoided mention of such credentials in this must-win state for Democrats, where natural gas drives the economy, culture and everyday conversation. Her new approach is proving a tough sell. Many of the swing voters [in Pennsylvania] whose livelihoods rise and fall with the fortunes of the fossil energy industry have not forgotten the last time Harris ran for president, when she called for a ban on fracking …” (“In Pennsylvania, Harris Can’t Shake Her Anti-Fracking Past,” The Washington Post, 8/13/2024)·       “The liberal bent of the Democratic ticket was solidified when Harris picked as her running mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, a climate hawk who last year signed a law mandating that his state’s electricity grid run entirely on green energy by 2040. The team’s robust support for electric vehicles, tougher environmental rules and increased accountability for fossil fuel companies has helped energize the Democratic base but is also creating anxiety for swing voters …” (“In Pennsylvania, Harris Can’t Shake Her Anti-Fracking Past,” The Washington Post, 8/13/2024)·       “Now, with polls showing Pennsylvania is a toss-up, her campaign says the candidate’s past talk of bans is old news … In a statement, the Harris campaign did not explain the candidate’s shift in thinking …” (“In Pennsylvania, Harris Can’t Shake Her Anti-Fracking Past,” The Washington Post, 8/13/2024) FLASHBACK: Harris Previously Advocated Even More Radical Climate Policies, Endorsing The Green New Deal While Proposing Carbon Taxes And Electric Vehicle MandatesHarris Was A Green New Deal Cosponsor, Going As Far As To Say She’d Destroy The Senate As An Institution In Order To Pass The Behemoth PlanTHEN-SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): “I wanted to share some really important news with you: I’m proud to announce that I’ve signed on as an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal in the Senate.” (Kamala Harris, “Green New Deal,” Medium, 2/07/2019)·       HARRIS: “I am prepared to get rid of the filibuster to pass a Green New Deal.” (CNN Town Hall, 9/04/2019)Harris Proposed $10 Trillion In Spending On Her Climate Plan, Which Also Featured A Mandate Forcing Americans To Drive Electric Vehicles“As a senator from California, Harris co-sponsored the Zero-Emissions Act in 2019, which would require by 2040 that 100% of new passenger vehicle sales in the U.S. release no greenhouse gases.” (“Harris Campaign Dodges Over EV Mandate Walkback,” Axios, 9/04/2024)“Sen. Kamala Harris is leaning in on her record as a California prosecutor who sought to punish polluters in her new $10 trillion climate plan, which aims for a carbon-neutral US economy by 2045…. The proposal includes ways to raise revenue, such as creating a pollution fee and eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, but the campaign did not further specify how it would be paid for….  The plan builds on a number of Harris’ proposed Senate bills. To reach the overall carbon-neutral goal by 2045, Harris would invest $10 trillion in public and private spending over 10 years … The major benchmark year highlighted in the plan is 2030, to reach the goal of 100% carbon-neutral electricity. Harris would reinstate federal emission rules for vehicles, leading to 50% of new passenger vehicles sold being zero-emission by 2030 and 100% of cars zero-emission by 2035.” (“Kamala Harris Unveils $10 Trillion Climate Plan,” CNN, 9/04/2019)Harris Even Endorsed A Carbon TaxHARRIS: “And under my plan there will also be a carbon fee.” (CNN Town Hall, 9/04/2019)·       “Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., released competing plans today for tackling climate change — dual moves that come hours before 10 Democratic presidential candidates participate in a marathon climate forum in New York City…. Both candidates support a carbon tax, a ban on new drilling on public lands and an end to government subsidies of the fossil fuel industry — three popular positions among 2020 Democrats.” (“Before Climate Marathon, 2 Candidates Commit To Carbon Tax,” Climatewire, 9/04/2019)REMINDER: Green New Deal Proponents Declared, ‘You Cannot Go Too Far,’ ‘We Really Think Of It As A How-Do-You-Change-The-Entire-Economy Thing,’ And Said, ‘Give Us Some Of That Socialism’THE VIEW’S SUNNY HOSTIN: “Does the Green New Deal go too far?”SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): “No. You cannot go too far on the issue of climate change.” (“Sanders Says Green New Deal Doesn’t Go Too Far: You Can’t Go ‘Too Far’ on Climate Change,” Mediaite, 3/01/2019)SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA), Green New Deal Senate sponsor: “They call the Green New Deal pie in the sky. They call it socialism! … So here’s what I say for wind and solar and all electric vehicles and clean energy: give us some of that socialism …” (Justice Democrats, @justicedems, Twitter, 5/14/2019)THE WASHINGTON POST: “The Green New Deal is a manifesto calling for sweeping changes to American society.” (“What’s Actually In The ‘Green New Deal’ From Democrats?,” The Washington Post, 2/11/2019)SAIKAT CHAKRABARTI, Chief of Staff for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY): “The interesting thing about the Green New Deal is it wasn’t originally a climate thing at all…. Do you guys think of it as a climate thing? Because we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing.” (“AOC’s Chief of Change,” The Washington Post Magazine, 7/10/2019) Despite Her Flip-Flops, Far-Left Democrats Expect Harris To Govern Based On Her Previous Extreme Left-Wing Positions“Democratic lawmakers are giving Vice President Harris a pass on her policy flip-flops and efforts to tack toward the political center, confident that she’s still a progressive at heart and will fight hard to achieve their goals on tax policy, climate change and other priorities.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024)‘The Senate’s Most Liberal Democrats’ … ‘Expect She’ll Back Them Up In Policy Fights If Elected President’ “Even the Senate’s most liberal Democrats say they aren’t worried about Harris backing away from her previous support for Medicare for All or a fracking ban because they believe she will push hard to rein in insurance and pharmaceutical companies or to crack down on fossil fuel consumption.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024)“They expect she’ll back them up in policy fights if elected president.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024)“‘I’m from Massachusetts, she’s from California. On climate, on abortion, on racial, LGBTQ issues, we are absolutely in agreement on her agenda,’ said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a leading Senate progressive who has co-sponsored Medicare for All, the Green New Deal and other ambitious liberal policy goals.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024)·       “‘That’s why Elizabeth Warren and I are so passionately campaigning for her and supporting her,’ he said, referring to fellow Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who ran against Harris in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024)·       “He said Harris would be ‘big proponent of ensuring of an expansion of health care in our country’ and that he ‘absolutely’ considers Harris a progressive leader.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024)“The architect of the Senate’s Medicare for All bill, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), however, said he doesn’t have a problem with her policy shifts and said he still views her as a progressive. Asked during an interview of NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ whether Harris had abandoned her progressive ideals, Sanders said she is saying what she needs to say to beat Trump. ‘No, I don’t think she’s abandoning her ideals. I think she’s tried to be pragmatic and doing what she thinks is right in order to win the election,’ he said.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024)“Some progressive groups are quietly hoping that Harris’ tough-on-the-border rhetoric is just a posture to help her win in November — and that she’d govern closer to the more liberal stances she held during the 2020 Democratic primary.” (“Progressives Hope Harris’ Border Shift Is Temporary,” Axios, 9/18/2024)‘In The End, They Think If She Is Elected, She Will Be A Progressive’“Democrats who spoke with The Hill largely echoed Sanders’s comments, saying they are happy for Harris to say what she needs to say to win. In the end, they think if she is elected, she will be a progressive.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024)“‘I want her to be pragmatist and I want her to win. Nothing’s more important for the climate than winning’ the presidential election, said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who’s not worried about Harris’s decision to now support some fracking.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024)·       “Schatz said the election of Harris will in no way slow the progress made during the Biden administration in shifting to a green-energy economy. ‘I don’t have any doubt that Kamala Harris would be great president for climate action but I don’t think we should be asking her to say certain magic words and I certainly don’t think we should be demanding that she take unpopular positions in key states,’ he added.” (“Democrats Bet Harris Will Move Left As President,” The Hill, 9/16/2024) ###SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTERRelated Issues: Border Security, Energy, Senate Democrats, Immigration, Homeland SecurityPrintEmailTweetPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER McCONNELLFacebookTwitterInstagram