Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday took questions from Latino voters at a city corridor in Nevada, the place she was pressed for specifics on her proposals on immigration, the economic system and extra.
Harris confronted a couple of dozen questions throughout the roughly hour-long occasion hosted by Univision, the place she sought to win over this key demographic group with simply 26 days to go earlier than Election Day. The Democratic nominee pointed to her document as vp and swung ferociously at her opponent, Republican former President Donald Trump, however she was mild on specifics on her plans for the nation.Â
Listed below are the highlights:Â
VOTERS IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES GIVE TRUMP AN EDGE OVER HARRIS ON THIS TOP TIER ISSUE: POLL
Harris pushes again on Trump assaults over hurricane response
Within the first query of the evening, a voter from Tampa requested Harris about rumors that the Biden-Harris administration didn’t do sufficient to reply to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Former President Trump, the Republican nominee, has fanned these rumors, claiming at a current rally that President Biden’s response to the storms was “the worst hurricane response since Katrina,” invoking the closely criticized federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Harris defended the Biden administration, accusing critics of “enjoying political video games” and insisting claims the response was insufficient are “simply not correct.” She mentioned she has been working with individuals on the bottom in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and different southeastern states to get Federal Emergency Administration Administration (FEMA) assets to individuals in want.Â
“One other piece of labor that I have been doing, it is primarily based on my years of being an legal professional normal in California, is telling these firms and people corporations that in disaster and emergencies jack up costs,” Harris mentioned. “I’ve seen it occur earlier than, that we’re watching them and at a second of desperation for these people and households, whether or not or not it’s to have the ability to get momentary shelter at a resort for fuel costs, for even airline tickets, that we’ll be watching in the event that they’re jacking up costs to ensure they will be critical consequence. And that is the form of work I’ll do going ahead.”
TRUMP CHARGES HURRICANE RESPONSE ‘WORST SINCE KATRINA’ AS BIDEN ARGUES TRUMP ‘ONSLAUGHT OF LIES’ MUST ‘STOP’
On immigration, Harris will not say how she’d be totally different than Biden
Voters pressed Harris for specifics on her plans for immigration and the way her insurance policies would differ from President Biden’s.Â
In her reply, Harris pointed to her current journey to go to the border in Arizona and her legislation enforcement profession as a prosecutor and California legal professional normal to point out she’s critical about border safety.Â
“I’ll put my document up in opposition to anybody by way of the work I’ve at all times carried out, and it’ll at all times be to make sure we’ve got a safe border,” she mentioned.Â
Harris additionally criticized Trump for main Republican opposition to a bipartisan border safety deal that was endorsed by the Nationwide Border Patrol Council in February. She claimed the invoice would have despatched 1,500 further Border Patrol brokers to the border and supply legislation enforcement assets to fight fentanyl trafficking.Â
Republicans say the border invoice supplied too many advantages to unlawful immigrants, like work permits and taxpayer-funded attorneys, and would have funded sanctuary metropolis jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with immigration enforcement.
Harris mentioned there’s a “false selection” between a safe border and humane immigration coverage. However she didn’t clarify how her insurance policies could be totally different from Biden, who additionally supported the border invoice.
DEM STRATEGISTS FRET HARRIS ‘SUGAR HIGH’ IS OVER: ‘IF YOU’RE NOT NERVOUS, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION’
Emotional second as girl asks about well being care
An emotional second got here when a Las Vegas girl, Ivett Castillo, advised Harris that she not too long ago misplaced her mom earlier than she may get her immigration standing legalized.Â
“She was by no means in a position to get the kind of care and repair that she wanted or deserved,” Castillo mentioned, holding again tears. She requested how Harris would assist unlawful immigrants who “should stay and die within the shadows.”Â
One other voter, Francisco Medina of San Diego, California, advised the vp that regardless of his insurance coverage protection by means of the Protection Division, he needed to cross the border into Mexico to obtain remedy. He requested how she would enhance the medical system.
“I firmly and deeply consider that healthcare is a proper, and ought to be a proper and never only a privilege of those that can afford it or have entry to it simply,” Harris mentioned.Â
She pointed to the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen the Reasonably priced Care Act and cap prescription drug costs as a place to begin for what she’d do as president.Â
“The work we’ve got carried out has been about capping the price of prescription treatment for seniors at $2,000,” she mentioned. “My intention as president of america is to make that obtainable for not simply seniors, however for everybody.”
Trump-leaning voter confronts Harris on leaving Biden behind
At one level throughout the city corridor, a self-described impartial voter mentioned he was leaning in the direction of voting for Trump as a result of Harris didn’t win the Democratic nomination by means of the conventional main course of.
“I am a bit of confused,” mentioned Mario Sigbaum, of Santa Monica, California. “Being a candidate with out going by means of the conventional course of – that’s main elections or by means of a caucus – that actually caught my consideration.” He demanded an evidence for the way Biden was “fully destituted.”Â
Harris thanked him for being “candid.” She known as Biden’s choice to withdraw from the election amid mounting stress from the Democratic Occasion “some of the brave a president may make” and mentioned he “put nation above his private curiosity.”Â
“He made that call, he… inside that very same time frame supported my candidacy and urged me to run,” Harris mentioned. “He and I’ve been companions for the final 4 years as his vp to him because the president. And I’m honored to have earned the Democratic nomination.”
She went on to say there’s a “big distinction” on this election and asserted Trump could be a “dictator on day one,” calling the state of affairs “unprecedented” with “assist for democracy” on the poll.Â
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Harris cannot say three good issues about Trump
Within the closing moments of the city corridor, one voter requested if Harris may identify three virtues of her Republican opponent. She couldn’t.
“I believe Donald Trump loves his household and I believe that is crucial,” she mentioned. “However I do not actually know him to be sincere with you. I solely met him one time on the talk stage. I would by no means met him earlier than.”Â
Harris got here up brief trying to find two different virtues. As a substitute, she criticized Trump for taking an “us versus them” strategy and utilizing divisive language.
“I do not assume that is wholesome for our nation, and I do not admire that.”Â
Get the newest updates from the 2024 marketing campaign path, unique interviews and extra at our Fox Information Digital election hub.