TIME Magazine Piece Exposes Kamala Harris, Praises Trump

A profile piece on Vice President Kamala Harris examining the priorities of a nascent administration was notable for what it did not contain: many thoughts by Harris herself.

The Democrat refused repeated requests by Time Magazine to answer questions about her economic and foreign policies, putting her in stark contrast with former President Donald Trump, who spoke with reporters for more than 90 minutes across two interviews. Before dropping out, President Joe Biden also participated in a similar interview with Time. Instead, Harris has largely stuck to friendly turf, appearing on progressive podcasts or local radio shows while avoiding the sharp questions expected from the national press.

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With the outcome of the race hanging on a razor’s edge, Harris also hasn’t done much to appeal to men, who support President Trump by sizable margins, or minority voters who feel increasingly comfortable with supporting her Republican opponent. She is running just as forcefully on what she wouldn’t do as what she will: she has promised to protect abortion rights and not impose blanket tariffs on China or other international competitors to U.S. manufacturers. She also pledged not to institute mass deportations, walking a fine line between the crackdown on illegal crossings favored by most Americans versus the total amnesty that supporters on the left wish she favored.

Harris’s avoidance of in-depth interviews largely mirrors the playbook Biden followed in 2020, running an under-the-radar campaign while benefiting from swing voters who found him appealing simply for not being Trump. This time, however, years of inflation and persistently high prices have turned that calculation on its head, saddling Harris with Biden’s misfortunes. And the rosy picture of a robust economy under Trump has encouraged voters harboring lingering doubts about him to set them aside.

Even if she wanted to engage Trump on policy, Harris has the hindsight of 2019 in mind when competitors like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) rolled out substantive policy positions only to be crushed in the primary. David Wessel, director of fiscal and monetary policy at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan think tank, told Time that Harris is trying to thread the needle by staying above the race though may pay a price for it later. “She knows that very few people are going to choose between her and Donald Trump based on some details of economic strategy, or some full-fledged proposal, so she’s not presenting them,” said Wessel. “It’s a strategy to win the election. What reason is there to put out a detailed economic plan if your opponent is just throwing snowballs?”

A spate of polls released Monday suggests that Harris’s honeymoon has ended. The Washington Post reported that an ABC News-Ipsos poll, conducted from Oct. 4-8, showed that among likely voters, Harris led Trump 50% to 48%, within the poll’s margin of error. A month ago, Harris led Trump 51%-46%. An NBC News poll also conducted from Oct. 4-8 showed an even split between Trump and Harris, with each garnering 48 percent support among registered voters. In that same poll last month, Harris was up by 5%.

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