Self-described Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders fended off criticisms that Vice President Kamala Harris has veered too far to the left in the past, calling her changing policy positions “pragmatic.”
Sanders (I-Vt.) claimed Harris has been recalibrating and “doing what she thinks is right in order to win the election.
“No, I don’t think she’s abandoning her ideals. I think she’s trying to be pragmatic,” Sanders told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“My own view is slightly different. I think that in America today there are a lot of people, rural people, working class people, who no longer believe that the United States Congress and government represents their interests, too dominated by big-money interest.”
Harris had similarly defended her past flip-flopping, telling CNN in her first major sit-down since clinching the nomination last month that her “values have not changed.”
There’s a laundry list of policy items that Harris has reversed herself on including a ban on plastic straws, a ban on fracking — a position seen as needed to win Pennsylvania. She has also softened on pushes for Medicare for all, a mandatory gun buyback program that aides reportedly suggested dropping, the decriminalization of illegal border crossings and a federal jobs guarantee.
During 2019, Harris was ranked by Govtrack as the most liberal member of the US Senate — further to than left than Sanders, who is typically the king — though the organization subsequently retracted the ranking.
Last week, the vice president seemingly shifted to the center when unveiling her tax policy on capital gains, while taking not of the potential toll that a dramatic hike could have on entrepreneurs.
She called for a a top rate of 28% on long-term capital gains for individuals making at least $1 million per year. Currently, the top capital gains tax rate is 20%.
That’s markedly lower than President Biden’s budget for fiscal year 2025 — a budget that Harris supported. Biden’s plan calls for up to 44.6% at the highest level, per some analyses of the plan that were predicated on Biden’s push for a top rate of 39.6% along with a 5% investment-income tax. It’s unclear what Harris would do with that 5% tax.
“I would go higher than that,” Sanders said bluntly, complaining that “you’ve got three people on top owning more wealth than the bottom half of American society” and declaring “you could substantially raise taxes on the billionaire class and the people on top.”
Sanders affirmed that he still considers Harris to be a progressive.
“I do. Look, she is not where I am,” he explained while pointing to her support for expanding the child tax credit and rattling off a few other examples.
“When she talks about building 3 million units of affordable housing, that’s a big deal because we have a major housing crisis in America. When she talks about passing the PEARL Act to make it easier for workers to join unions, that’s a big deal,” he said. “I do consider her progressive.”
The Independent senator from Vermont also took note of the differences he has on policy with Harris, while stressing he believes that she would move the needle significantly in the direction he wants, using health care as an example.
“I think that there is something wrong, personally, when we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all of our people,” he said. “That is why I support Medicare for all. She does not.
“She has another approach toward moving toward universal health care.”
