Kamala Harris finally took one of the first big steps of her presidential campaign late last week when she announced her vision for the U.S. economy in a speech to a small crowd of adoring fans.
While there were plenty of applause lines for those gathered in Raleigh, North Carolina, the overall reaction to the proposal – which still does not appear in writing on her campaign website – has been anything but enthusiastic from those on the left, right, and center.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Tom Bevan, Carl Cannon, and Andrew Walworth of RealClearPolitics to discuss Harris’ plan and the backlash it has received.
The Proposal
Amid criticism that her campaign has yet to present any sort of policy platform, Harris debuted her economic plan at a rally in the Tar Heel State on Friday. The agenda outlined her priorities for her first 100 days in office, and they included tax credits for homeowners and parents and a federal ban on price gouging on groceries.
“She is proposing $25,000 for first-time home buyers to help them with a down payment on a house, she is proposing some sort of federal price controls… and she is proposing a child tax credit of $6,000 for a child in their first year,” Megyn explained. “J.D. Vance had proposed $5,000, so there is a suggestion by some that this is yet another attempt to copy a Trump-Vance proposal that might have more populist appeal.”
As it relates to the price control proposal, Megyn noted that those who were expecting this policy were actually surprised at how Harris presented it in the speech. You can get a flavor from the excerpt below:
HARRIS: Costs are still too high. And, on a deeper level, for too many people, no matter how much they work, it feels so hard to just be able to get ahead… Together, we will build what I call an opportunity economy [applause]… A loaf of bread cost 50 percent more today than it did before the pandemic. Ground beef is up almost 50 percent. Many of the big food companies are seeing their highest profits in two decades… So, believe me, as President, I will go after the bad actors [applause], and I will work to pass the first ever federal ban on price [gouging] on food.
While some on the left thought Harris would advocate for price controls more explicitly, Megyn said “the actual remarks, as orated, didn’t necessarily sound quite that extreme to those who expected actual price controls being proposed.” Even so, it is too soon to tell what was meant. “We’ll see,” she added. “We have no idea because she does not write anything down.”
The Blowback
Given the reaction from economists and pundits on all sides of the political divide, maybe Harris will be looking to make some amendments to the plan before officially putting pen to paper. “I didn’t see almost anything saying this is a good idea,” Megyn noted.
There was plenty of criticism of the individual policy ideas, but Walworth said the fallout is just as much about the platform as a whole. “I thought that the details were less important than the direction,” he said. “Everything she was saying was directionally pointed towards the left, everything was directly pointed towards causing more inflation, and I think the American people understand that.”
Take, for instance, her idea to provide Americans who have paid their rent on time for two years with up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance. “If you give first-time homebuyers $25,000 to buy the house, that immediately will raise the price of that house by $25,000,” Walworth continued. “That is the way subsidies work.”
When it comes to the ‘price gouging’ plan, Walworth joined the chorus of those on the left from The Washington Post editorial board on down who are slamming the policy. “I think the American people are pretty sophisticated about this at this point. They hear ‘wage and price controls,’ and they know what that means… We’ve seen it fail here at home, as well as in other countries,” he said. “So, I think I wasn’t surprised that there was this much blowback. I was surprised that she went that far left out the box.”
Vibe Shift?
In Cannon’s view, this is but the latest example of Harris struggling to find her identity. “I think there is something other than the economic illiteracy about this that didn’t help her or Democrats,” he said. “They’ve been trying out these different themes in this ‘vibe’ and meme-based candidacy, and one of them is, ‘We’re the Freedom Party.’ Well, the Freedom Party… doesn’t do a command and control economy thing. It was at odds with what they’ve been saying.”
He believes voters see through that. “I think discerning voters in swing states – and that is the kind of people they ought to be thinking about right now – think, ‘Okay, maybe it’s just all spin, maybe it’s just all pandering, maybe none of it’s sincere,'” Cannon concluded. “It undercut their message in a kind of basic way.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Bevan, Cannon, and Walworth by tuning in to episode 864 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.