Kamala Harris has a deceptive strategy to defeat Donald Trump and take over the White House: skillfully retracting her soft stance on crime and presenting herself as a tough prosecutor.
The vice president, 59, revealed the change during her first campaign events since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, a tactic she The New York Times This comes as Republicans are quick to launch attacks on his candidacy.
In particular, Harris’s past rhetoric on crime reform and illegal immigration has come under scrutiny.
At a campaign rally in Arizona on Friday, Harris expressed support for the growing emphasis among voters on rampant migration in border states.
“I was the attorney general of a border state,” she proudly told her supporters. “I went after transnational gangs, drug cartels and human traffickers. I prosecuted them in case after case and won.”
Kamala Harris has stepped up her rhetoric on the issues of crime and illegal immigration as her campaign heats up.
Harris has touted her record as a “border state prosecutor” in recent weeks, saying she “went after transnational gangs, drug cartels and human traffickers.”
During her time as President Biden’s number two, Harris was in charge of helping to stop the migration crisis by attacking the root causes in Latin America.
But under the Biden-Harris administration, record numbers of illegal immigrants flooded the southern border.
More than 7.8 million people have been apprehended at the border by CBP since Biden took office, according to figures cited by Texas Senator John Cornyn.
This does not include at least 1.5 million “fugitives” – those who were detected by CBP technology but entered the country without being apprehended.
For Republicans, Harris’s responsibilities under this crisis have offered a fruitful line of attack during the campaign, with polls showing illegal immigration is only growing in the minds of American voters.
In a surprising result from a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, 56 percent of voters said most or all illegal immigrants in the United States should be forcibly detained and deported.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, at least 7.8 million illegal immigrants were apprehended at the southern border, not including at least 1.5 million “escapers.”
At a campaign rally in Arizona on Friday (pictured), Harris leaned into the growing importance of illegal immigration in border states.
But amid a wave of Republican attacks on her record, Harris’ campaign has sought to address the issue and portray her as a tough prosecutor who has tackled the issue throughout her career.
The furthest he has gone in recent weeks is pledging to expand pathways for immigrants to one day become U.S. citizens.
“We know our immigration system is broken and we know what it takes to fix it: comprehensive reform,” he said at Friday’s rally in Arizona.
“That includes strong border security and an earned path to citizenship.”
Another new TV ad, targeting swing-state voters in recent days, sees Harris pledge to “hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.”
In another announcement that is currently being published, cited by PoliticalA narrator said: ‘As vice president, she backed the toughest border enforcement bill in decades.
“And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking. Fixing the border is hard. So is Kamala Harris.”
As part of her perceived new strategy, Harris has attacked her 2024 election rival Donald Trump for his role in “sinking” a bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.
The new focus on cracking down on illegal immigration and getting tough on immigrants stands in stark contrast to positions Harris has taken in the past, including famously raising her hand during a 2020 Democratic primary debate when asked whether illegal immigrants should have access to public health care.
Polls also show that voters perceive Republicans as more effective on this issue, a factor Harris’s new campaign is apparently trying to combat.
Along with other Democratic representatives, Harris has criticized former President Trump for helping kill a bipartisan border bill that was set to advance in Congress earlier this year.
The bill would have closed the border once a certain number of migrants crossed, while significantly increasing Border Patrol powers to detain and deport those who crossed illegally.
“Donald Trump blew the deal,” Harris told her crowd in Arizona on Friday.
“Because he thought that would help him win an election.”
Though her candidacy is only a few weeks old, Harris’ efforts to redefine herself could pay off, according to pollsters and insiders.
Josh Ulibarri, a Democratic pollster based in Arizona, told Politico that many perceive the updated message as “smart, strategic and aggressive.”
“It’s well aligned with what Arizona’s most undecided audiences need and want to hear from Democrats right now,” he told the outlet.
“We need to neutralize the issue (immigration), so that we can give voters clarity on abortion, on the economic conversation and on the risks that Trump presents.”