Liberal media support for Kamala Harris appears to be waning, as several outlets this week criticized her “communist” plan to control food prices.
Harris has enjoyed fawning coverage from left-leaning publications since she began her presidential campaign on July 21, despite repeatedly refusing to grant interviews to the press.
But after announcing a new policy this week to control inflation by introducing a federal ban on “price gouging,” the Democrat appeared to send her honeymoon period to a crashing end.
An opinion piece published by the Washington Post wrote: “It’s hard to overstate how bad Kamala Harris’s proposal to raise prices is.” The outlet added that it led to criticism that the candidate, who has repeatedly presented herself as a moderate Democrat, is a “communist” after Trump sensationally labelled her “Comrade Kamala.”
CNN anchor Abby Phillip also scoffed while discussing the plan on air Thursday, while a Newsweek headline claimed it was “riddled with problems.”
Harris has enjoyed fawning coverage from left-leaning publications since she began her presidential campaign on July 21.
Harris’ plan appeared to bring an abrupt end to her honeymoon period. The Washington Post was among those criticizing the proposal.
A Newsweek headline claimed it was “plagued with problems.”
Price gouging refers to when large corporations raise prices above what is considered reasonable or fair during times of high inflation or limited supply.
This has been a hot topic of political debate since inflation began to rise in 2021, peaking at 9.1 percent in June 2022 before cooling to an annual rate of 2.9 percent last month. This means that food prices are still 21 percent higher than three years ago.
Harris insisted this week that rising costs at supermarkets are being exacerbated by corporate greed, as she outlined plans to crack down on “excessive corporate profiteering”.
This sparked a wave of criticism that the plan would only lead to shortages, black markets and hoarding.
He Mail published an editorial titled: ‘When your opponent calls you a ‘communist,’ maybe you shouldn’t propose price controls?’
The headline referred to comments made by Trump comparing Harris’s price-gouging controls to a plan from “the old Soviet Union.”
The post’s writer, Catherine Rampell, added that the proposal lacked details and did not clarify how lawmakers would define “excessive” profits.
“This is, in all but name, a broad set of government-imposed price controls across the industry, not just the food industry,” he wrote.
‘Supply and demand would no longer determine prices and profit levels. Bureaucrats living far from Washington would. The FTC could tell, say, a Kroger in Ohio what an acceptable price it could charge for milk.’
It marked a surprising change of direction for the historically left-leaning Post newspaper, whose coverage of the politician has been consistently positive and has included recent op-eds headlined: “The versatility of Kamala Harris” and “Harris’s ever-widening path to victory.”
But Rampell later walked back the criticism after listening to Harris’ speech in North Carolina on Friday, writing about unknown‘His comments on prices were more moderate than those contained in the campaign fact sheet sent to reporters.’
CNN anchor Abby Phillip also scoffed while discussing the plan on air Thursday.
The journalist said she “supports” a more general call for increased antitrust protections.
CNN was similarly skeptical of Harris’s plans to raise prices. Anchor Abby Phillips used a segment Thursday to read aloud criticism from National Review author Noah Rothman that the policy was designed to “pander to the economically illiterate.”
He scoffed as he asked a group of guests: “Is this just a ruse? Because it sounds a bit like that.”
Phillips was overruled by Vanderbilt University professor Michael Eric Dyson, who insisted it was “good politics.”
Meanwhile, Newsweek reporter Jesus Mesa noted that Harris had not “taken into account that grocery stores tend to have very thin profit margins, typically between 1 and 3 percent, much lower than other retail sectors.”
The coverage is undoubtedly a blow to Harris’ campaign, which critics say has benefited from unfairly positive headlines from left-leaning newspapers that have sought to portray her as a more moderate candidate.
Former Republican Congressman Zach Wamp said last week that the current vice president was in a “honeymoon period.”
He said News from the sky of Australia“The media is helping to portray her as neither progressive nor a true liberal. No one is holding her accountable.”
Harris has also been criticized for obsessively avoiding media interviews. She has not given a single formal interview or press conference, despite being three weeks into the presidential campaign.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.