Three key challenges for Kamala Harris: Biden’s shadow, Trump’s ‘comrade’ attacks and her interview problem
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris face intense scrutiny in the remaining two months of the US election campaign.
Ever since Ms Harris became the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee with Joe Biden’s historic announcement he would not seek re-election, she has enjoyed a rapid ascent in polling.
But momentum can swing quickly in an election campaign, and issues persist for both candidates – which could be crucial at their first debate on Tuesday.
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Your ultimate guide to the US election
The challenges facing Trump
A recent survey from the New York Times and Siena College puts the former president one point ahead of the vice president, at 48% to 47% respectively.
With only weeks to go until America goes to the polls, here’s a look at three key challenges for the Democratic nominee…
Pic: Reuters
‘Comrade Kamala’
Republicans portray Kamala Harris as a California liberal of the hard left, a “radical left lunatic” as Donald Trump would have it.
They point to her ‘flip-flopping’ on key policy areas and insist it exposes an extreme left agenda, while raising questions of authenticity and trust.
In her effort to win the Democratic nomination in 2020, Harris took a left-leaning stance on several issues as she paid heed to her party’s progressive wing. That has changed with her political elevation.
Kamala Harris embraced policies championed by Bernie Sanders – such as abolishing private health insurance – back in 2019 and 2020. File pic: Reuters
As vice president, she duly aligned herself more centrally with the administration of the day and so modified her position on issues.
On fracking – she favoured a ban, now doesn’t; for healthcare, she backed a scheme to eliminate private insurance, now doesn’t; on illegal border crossings, she supported decriminalisation, and now doesn’t.
In a recent interview, Harris addressed her shift by saying her values hadn’t changed and her time as VP had given her a fresh perspective.
Her opponents will insist she has chosen convenience over conviction in a cynical bid to hoodwink independent, moderate voters.
Biden’s shadow
There’s a reason Joe Biden was struggling in the polls – his age didn’t help, of course, but neither did his record.
On a matter most important – the economy – he can cite improvement, having delivered on GDP, unemployment and inflation.
His difficulty is in the economic indicators more measurable and meaningful to the public – prices at the petrol pumps and in the shops – that have left Americans feeling the pinch and feeling less well off than they were four years ago.
Inflation may be falling, but prices are roughly 20% higher than they were during the COVID pandemic. As hard as the president has tried to sell “Bidenomics,” the voters aren’t buying.
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From 3 September: Biden and Harris’s first official rally
In her effort to escape the shadow of economic angst, Harris has unveiled proposals she says will cut costs and is punting a populist line that casts big business and greedy landlords as the villains making life difficult.
Departing from Biden’s big picture boasting about economic wins and legislative victories, she aims to talk money in terms the voter understands and to empathise with their concerns.
The strategy needs to work for her. A CNBC survey in August found 40% of voters said they’d be better off financially under a Trump presidency compared to 21% if Harris won.
Harris’s opponents say that, as a core member of the existing government, she bears responsibility for the public’s financial woes.
They insist she will also have to answer for the record of the Biden administration as a whole – expect her to face awkward questions, too, on subjects like Afghanistan and the Israel/Hamas conflict.
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Interview problems
Kamala Harris can work a crowd.
At the Democratic National Convention and at rallies across the country, she has demonstrated a stage presence and sure-footedness that energises the faithful. She’s comfortable among friends.
There remain questions about her vulnerability in more challenging surroundings and, in a country where politics is heavy on performance, that matters.
A 2021 interview that Harris conducted with NBC’s Lester Holt is given an occasional dusting off, which doesn’t do her any favours.
On being asked about her role in investigating the root causes of immigration, she was asked the seemingly straightforward question about visiting the US southern border and the exchange unfolded thus:
Harris: “We’ve been to the border.”
Holt: “You’ve not been to the border?”
Harris: “And I haven’t been to Europe.”
It’s a brief exchange that took place three years ago and Kamala Harris has performed ably in numerous interviews since.
However, that particular interview, and its awkwardness, springs to mind after a campaign – so far – of limited exposure.
Since Joe Biden stepped down, Harris has only conducted one sit-down TV interview. Even then, it was with running mate Tim Walz by her side.
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From August: Harris gives first major interview
That’s one set-piece – or joint – interview in six weeks.
It would be an astonishing lack of independent scrutiny for someone bidding to be a local parish councillor, let alone president of the United States.
There remain questions unasked of Kamala Harris and the apparent reluctance to address them creates a sense of vulnerability.
The enthusiasm for a change in the ticket has shored up the Democratic vote, no doubt, but Harris needs to extend her reach to the undecideds, independents and Republicans feeling reluctant about Trump.
They need to know who she is and what she stands for. Harris has come a distance in the polls but they are starting to look sticky.
She needs the extra votes. If the TV interview is a risk, it’s one she might have to take – more than once every six weeks.
It’s one thing rolling out the teleprompted hits to the adoring masses, it’s quite another sitting down for independent interrogation.
That, perhaps more than elsewhere, is where judgement lies.
US
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s ex Cassie gives birth two weeks after testifying against him – as his bid for mistrial is dismissed
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’s ex-partner has given birth two weeks after testifying against him – as his legal team failed in a bid to declare a mistrial.
Cassie Ventura gave birth to her third child with partner Alex Fine after going into labour on Tuesday, a close source told Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Wednesday.
The news was later confirmed by her friend and former stylist Deonte Nash, who told Diddy‘s trial that he last spoke to her “after she had the baby yesterday [Tuesday]”.
Diddy trial day eleven – as it happened
Combs, 55, is accused of two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, and one of conspiring to racketeer. He denies all the charges.
Cassie had given evidence while she was more than eight months pregnant. The 38-year-old told the trial that Diddy subjected her to physical, sexual and mental abuse for much of their 11-year relationship.
She alleged he forced her into “hundreds” of drug-fuelled sex sessions with male escorts while he watched, which he referred to as “freak offs”.
News of the birth came on the same day Combs’s legal team tried in vain to get the judge to declare a mistrial.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs depicted in a court sketch on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters
Diddy and Cassie at an event in 2016. Pic: zz/JMA/STAR MAX/IPx/AP
Alexandra Shapiro, one of Diddy’s attorneys, moved for the mistrial just before the court broke for lunch, during evidence by Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) arson investigator Lance Jiminez.
According to Ms Shapiro, Mr Jiminez’s claim that police destroyed fingerprint evidence collected at the scene of an alleged 2012 Molotov cocktail attack on rapper Kid Cudi’s car would lead the jury to believe Combs had something to do with it.
She accused the prosecution of “misconduct” and claimed their questioning of Mr Jiminez was “designed to play into that” narrative.
Another of Diddy’s defence lawyers Marc Agnifilo described the prosecution’s conduct as “outrageous”.
However, prosecution attorney Christy Slavik hit back by saying a mistrial was “completely unwarranted”.
She insisted questions about the destruction of evidence were asked to highlight the poor quality of the police investigation.
Judge Arun Subramanian dismissed the motion and instead told jurors to disregard any reference to the fingerprints.
Earlier on Wednesday, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer Chris Ignacio detailed the alleged break-in at Kid Cudi’s home in December 2011.
LAPD officer Chris Igancio is questioned by Diddy’s attorney on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters
He was called to the scene and noticed a Cadillac Escalade parked in front of the property, the number plate for which later transpired to be registered to Bad Boy Productions, Diddy’s record label.
During his evidence, Cudi alleged it was Diddy who was behind the break-in.
Rapper Kid Cudi outside court last week. Pic: AP
Mr Jiminez then testified about an alleged Molotov cocktail attack on Cudi’s car the following month.
Having investigated the incident, he concluded it was “not a random act” and that the makeshift firebomb had been placed there deliberately, in line with Cudi’s claims.
LA arson investigator Lance Jiminez is questioned in court. Pic: Reuters
When Diddy and Cassie’s former stylist Mr Nash took to the stand, he detailed several incidents of alleged violence inflicted on the singer by her then partner.
On one occasion, Diddy turned up at her LA flat, “grabbed her by the hair”, “kicked her” and “hit her pretty hard”, he claimed.
A court sketch of Deonte Nash, a former stylist to Sean Combs and Cassie Ventura. Pic: Reuters
When she hit her head on a bed frame, she suffered a gash to her forehead and eyebrow, he said.
Both he and Mia, a second alleged witness, jumped on the rapper’s back to get him to stop, he told the court.
Following another incident when Diddy demanded to see Cassie, she threatened to “go over the balcony”, Mr Nash told the jury.
Diddy was violent towards him too, he said, once choking him against a car and threatening him not to go out with Cassie and without him.
Despite all this, Mr Nash said he “doesn’t hate” Diddy – and that he had been compelled to give evidence as part of a subpoena.
Mia, which is a pseudonym used to protect her identity, was due to start her evidence on Wednesday but Mr Nash’s testimony overran.
He will resume giving evidence on Thursday, with Mia’s evidence due to last until the court breaks for the weekend.
The trial continues.
US
US trade court blocks Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs – claiming he ‘exceeded his authority’
The Trump administration has stopped the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the US while it prepares to expand social media vetting of applicants.
A US official said on Tuesday the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who already have visa interviews scheduled.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an internal administration document.
A downturn in enrolment of international students could hurt university budgets in the US.
To make up for cuts in federal research funding, some colleges previously shifted to enrolling more international students, who often pay full tuition.
Now, an internal cable signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and seen by the Associated Press news agency shows how new student visa interviews are being halted as the US State Department plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting.
The cable says that “in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consulate sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity” until the guidance is issued.
It also says the halting of new visa interviews is “effective immediately”.
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Asked about the suspension at a briefing on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the US uses every available resource to vet people applying for visas.
“We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,” Ms Bruce said.
The move, first reported by Politico, is the latest in the White House’s crackdown on international students.
Last week, the Trump administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enrol international students, removing the college from the programme that allows schools to sponsor foreign students for visas.
That effort was quickly challenged in court and for now is blocked by a federal judge.
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Harvard foreign student ban blocked
This spring the Trump administration also revoked the legal status of thousands of international students already in the country, leading some to leave the US out of fear of deportation.
After many students filed successful legal challenges, the administration said it was restoring the students’ legal status.
But the government also expanded the grounds for terminating international students’ legal status going forward.
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US President Donald Trump’s previous administration stepped up scrutiny of all visa applicants, introducing reviews of their social media accounts.
The policy remained during President Joe Biden’s administration.
An extended pause in scheduling student visas could lead to delays that may disrupt college, boarding school or exchange students’ plans to enrol in summer and autumn terms.
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