Democratic lawmakers are fiercely defending Vice President Kamala Harris as she takes on former President Donald Trump, despite her record as the “most liberal” senator.
Republicans are attacking the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and former California senator, calling him a “radical” progressive from San Francisco.
They say he is even more progressive than self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders.
And millions of people are feeding into attack ads reminding American voters how she supported health care for illegal immigrants, banning fracking and eliminating private health insurance.
However, her former Democratic colleagues insist that she has always been “centrist” and moderate.
“His record is very centrist,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told DailyMail.com this week.
Following Vice President Kamala Harris’s surprise rise to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, her former colleagues in the Senate, where she served from 2017 to 2021, have been touting her centrist, presidential-ready political record. Republicans, meanwhile, have been quick to call her a radical progressive from San Francisco who had the most left-leaning record in the Senate.
“He’s in favor of fighting climate change. He wants to protect a woman’s right to decide when and if she wants to have children. He’s in favor of lowering food and gas prices. All of that is pretty conventional,” Blumenthal said of his record.
However, when pressed on whether she is more liberal than Biden, she replied: “I don’t use those labels.”
“I think she’s been an extraordinarily pragmatic leader who has put forward some of the most bipartisan bills we’ve seen come out of Congress since LBJ,” said New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, who ran against Harris and Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
Harris laughed off GovTrack’s rating of her record as the “most liberal” senator when asked about it during a 60 Minutes interview in 2020. She blamed then-vice presidential nominee Mike Pence for bringing it up in their debate at the time.
Senate Democratic leader Dick Durbin told DailyMail.com he would not consider Harris to be to the left of Biden, but added: “It depends on the issue.”
As for whether Harris is as “extreme” as Republicans make her out to be, Durbin responded: “I mean, we’re running out of descriptors that are supposed to strike fear in the hearts of Americans.”
“It’s not going to work,” he continued.
Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock told the Daily Mail: “I’ll let the pundits speak,” but said Republicans have not found a way to attack Harris and that calling her extreme and “radical” is not working.
“I think they’re trying to regain their balance as they figure out how to present a criminal against the prosecutor.”
Asked if he sees Harris as more left-wing than the president, Warnock replied: “This election is not about left and right, it’s about right and wrong.”
Democratic senators like Blumenthal and Booker praised Harris’ record, saying she has a moderate record. Booker even compared her record to that of former President Lyndon B. Johnson, a famously centrist Democrat.
Republicans say Harris’ record in the Senate more closely resembles that of self-proclaimed Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Veteran Sen. Durbin said he wouldn’t generally consider Harris more liberal than Biden, but it depends on the issue.
Montana Democratic Sen. John Tester, who is running in a tight race with a Republican challenger in a Republican-leaning state, said “shit, I don’t know” when asked whether the president or vice president is more politically extreme.
The mountain man has yet to endorse Harris for president and is believed to be staying on the sidelines because of the politically treacherous implications backing her could have on his re-election campaign.
“It’s hard to say,” Michigan Democratic Senator Gary Peters told the Daily Mail. “They’re both perfect for the job. One will be president and the other vice president. So they’ve done an extraordinary job.”
Republicans, meanwhile, declared Harris to be the more liberal of the two White House executives.
“Kamala Harris is definitely more liberal,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told DailyMail.com. “Just look at her 2020 presidential campaign. It’s one of the most radical campaigns out there.”
Still, she is also responsible for Biden-Harris’s policies in the White House, she said.
“Joe Biden just reminds everyone of his uncle, so he’s less threatening. His policies, of course, have been the same. They’ve been administration policies.”
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said, “When Kamala Harris was in the Senate, she was voted or ranked as the most liberal member of the United States Senate.”
‘His voting record in the Senate is more liberal than Bernie Sanders’.’
“And why? Look at some of the things he has proposed: eliminating private health insurance in the United States, but giving free health care to illegal immigrants.”
The Wyoming Republican called Harris a “dangerously liberal” San Francisco Democrat, adding that she is “equally incompetent as Biden” and “equally carries the mantle” of high inflation and allowing 10 million immigrants to cross into the United States.
“In the (2020) primaries, she was more on the left,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told DailyMail.com. “When she ran for president, she jumped on every liberal horse that came her way.”
“I don’t think Joe signed up for Medicare despite the whole Green New Deal,” he added.
