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Checking Trump on Harris Claims

Trump spouted the tired far-right extremist line that his opponent is 'radically left' and will 'destroy the country' during his fear-mongering speech yesterday.

Published July 27, 2024 at 5:06am by

Trump Targets Harris at N.C. Rally, But Gets Facts Wrong

In his first campaign rally since Biden dropped out, Donald Trump attacked his likely 2024 opponent, Kamala Harris, calling her a "radical left lunatic." Trump criticized Harris' policies on immigration, healthcare, and abortion, making several false and misleading claims.

In his first campaign rally since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, former President Donald Trump targeted his likely opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her a:

"radical left lunatic who will destroy our country. If she ever gets the chance to get into office."

Trump's claims:

Harris "threw open our borders and allowed 20 million illegal aliens to stampede into our country." False. Harris worked with Central American countries to address the issues driving migration. Border security is handled by the Homeland Security Secretary, not Harris. Encounter data, accounting for repeat crossings, shows ~11.6 million immigrants illegally crossed under Biden. Around 3.3 million people have been released into the US, while ~4 million have been expelled or removed.
Harris "co-sponsored Bernie Sanders' $32 trillion plan to take over the entire US health system." True. In 2019, Harris co-sponsored the Medicare for All Act, creating an automatic, federally-run health insurance program for all US residents, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services. Private insurers could only offer supplemental coverage.
Harris wanted to "eliminate" private health insurance, saying, "let's just eliminate all of it." Half True. Harris supported eliminating private insurance except for supplemental coverage. The "let's just eliminate all of it" quote refers to paperwork and delays in getting insurance company approval for treatments, not eliminating private insurance entirely.
Harris "wants abortions in the eighth and ninth month of pregnancy, right up until birth, and even after birth — the execution of a baby." False. Harris supports abortion access as in Roe v. Wade, which allowed it up to fetal viability, typically around 24 weeks. Situations after this are rare and involve fatal fetal anomalies or life-threatening emergencies. Willfully terminating a newborn’s life is infanticide and is illegal.

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