Since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris is shaping her political stance in real-time.
Given her late entry into the presidential race and the absence of a written platform, she has been relying on public statements to articulate her political positions. Sometimes aligning with President Joe Biden’s stance, other times differing, often diverging from her previous positions.
Republican strategist Ford O’Connell told Epoch Times, “I think one advantage Kamala Harris may have is that there’s less than 100 days until the election. In this brief window of time, she may find it easier to introduce her policy positions rather than letting her political opponents define her.”
Here’s a summary of Kamala Harris’s current views on key issues, compared with her previous statements and Biden’s policies.
Harris has made abortion a central campaign issue, often contrasting herself with former President Donald Trump. Three Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump voted to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision.
Like Biden, Harris supports federal legislation to restore the abortion rights previously provided under Roe v. Wade nationwide.
On June 30, Harris said in Atlanta to a gathering, “As president of the United States, I will sign it into law when Congress passes legislation to restore reproductive freedom.”
As a U.S. senator from California, Harris co-sponsored a bill with others to prohibit states from restricting abortion and voted against a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
In 2019, she advocated that “states and localities with a history of violations against Roe v. Wade” must obtain approval from the Department of Justice before enacting any abortion laws or practices.
Harris’s position on border issues has seen a shift compared to 2020. During the Biden-Harris campaign for president in 2020, Harris suggested the U.S. should “reexamine” the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency responsible for investigating and deporting illegal immigrants. However, she now rejects that stance.
“Immigration is part of the fabric of America,” she wrote in 2019, pledging to pursue immigration reform.
In June 2021, she told migrants in Guatemala, “Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws to ensure border security.”
Currently, Harris, like Biden, views the influx of illegal immigrants as part of a global migration crisis and humanitarian issue.
However, by focusing more on border enforcement issues, Harris has set herself apart from others.
In July this year, speaking about her time as California attorney general, Harris said, “During my tenure, I worked alongside law enforcement officers, going through underground tunnels between the U.S. and Mexico, pursuing transnational gangs, drug cartels, and human traffickers entering our country illegally.”
As vice president, Harris’s record on border issues has recently sparked controversy, particularly her role in ensuring border security.
Biden appointed Harris as an unofficial border czar in March 2021 to “address the underlying causes of the immigration challenge strategically, to address the factors currently driving migrants from their homes of origin – instability, violence, and economic insecurity.”
Later that year, Harris announced providing $1.15 billion in public and private funds to reduce global migration by mitigating economic instability, combatting corruption, promoting human rights, fighting gang activity, reducing sexual violence, gender-based violence, and domestic violence.
Harris has reiterated her support for Israel and condemned Hamas and its attacks launched on October 7, 2023. Both Biden and Harris support a two-state solution to the regional conflict.
However, after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 25, she stated that while Israel has the right to self-defense, “how it defends itself matters.”
Harris said, “I also expressed deep concern to the prime minister about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, including the deaths of far too many innocent civilians.” She reiterated her speech from December 2023, stating that Israel “must take more steps to protect innocent civilians.”
Harris appears to be more inclined to “question” how Israel deals with the issue of Palestinians in Gaza.
Patricia Crouse, a political science professor at the University of New Haven, told Epoch Times that Harris’s direct criticism of Netanyahu’s policies “suggests she may be willing to try a different strategy.”
Biden supports providing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia, believing it is crucial to prevent further Russian aggression against European allies. In June this year, Biden reached an agreement with NATO allies to provide military support over the next decade “until Ukraine prevails.”
Harris did not contradict this stance.
In February, during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Harris stated, “Continued support [to Ukraine] aligns with U.S. strategic interests.”
In June, she announced the U.S. would provide over $1.5 billion in aid to “support Ukraine’s energy sector, address humanitarian needs, and enhance civilian security.”
Harris supports Supreme Court reform. However, her position has shifted since 2020.
During the Biden-Harris campaign for president in 2020, Harris seemed open to expanding the number of seats on the Supreme Court. In March 2019, she told Politico that she would take all available measures to address the public’s “trust crisis” with the court.
According to Bloomberg, two months later, she indicated she was open to a “conversation” about expanding the number of justices.
However, regarding Biden’s recent Supreme Court reform proposals, Harris issued a statement endorsing them, including an 18-year term limit for justices and adherence to judicial ethical standards, without mentioning expanding the number of justices.
In a statement on July 29, Harris said, “The Supreme Court is facing an obvious trust crisis due to numerous ethical scandals and decisions overturning long-standing precedents, calling into question its impartiality.”
She emphasized the need for reform to restore public confidence in the court.
As a prosecutor in the San Francisco area, Harris advocated harsh penalties for gun violence offenders, calling for a minimum of 90 days in jail for criminals possessing concealed or loaded weapons, vowing to “not tolerate” such crimes.
Harris’s views on law enforcement shifted in 2020. In an interview on the “Ebro in the Morning” radio show, she said the “defund the police” movement was “rightly” pointing out that government funds were disproportionately allocated to police departments, neglecting community services like education, housing, and healthcare.
After joining Biden’s campaign team later that year, she rejected the idea of defunding the police.
During a vice-presidential debate in October 2020, she called for criminal justice reform, banning police from using chokeholds and neck restraints, establishing a national registry for misconduct by police, and legalizing marijuana.
Harris has consistently focused on “ending gun violence” in her campaign speeches.
In a press conference on April 11, Harris stated her support for the Second Amendment but advocated for enacting “common-sense gun safety laws.”
She later defined this as banning the sale of so-called assault weapons to civilians, expanding background checks, and implementing red flag laws.
The Biden administration also advocates for mandatory gun safety storage measures and ending immunity for gun manufacturers. So far, Harris has not expressed dissent on these policies.
According to Bloomberg, Harris supported a mandatory buyback program for military-style assault weapons in 2019, but she no longer publicly advocates for this measure.
Both Harris and Biden support taxing large corporations and Americans with annual incomes exceeding $400,000.
Biden proposes raising the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to 28%, while Harris supports reinstating the pre-Trump era 35% corporate tax rate.
During her time as a senator, Harris co-introduced the LIFT the Middle-Class Act, aimed at establishing a tax credit for the middle class, with individuals eligible for up to $3,000 and jointly filing married couples up to $6,000. However, the bill was ultimately sidelined in the committee stage.
Harris aims to improve healthcare affordability, at least safeguarding the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare.”
Both Harris and Biden state that healthcare should be considered a right in America. However, Biden expressed doubts in 2020 about the affordability of universal healthcare.
Harris’s 2019 “Medicare for All” plan aimed to expand healthcare coverage to all Americans while keeping private insurance. According to The New York Times, she briefly supported eliminating private insurance at the start of 2019.
The funding source for her plan was a 4% tax increase on individuals earning over $100,000 annually.