Trump Reacts to Harris Vice-Presidential Pick

TERMS CALIFORNIA SENATOR “DANGEROUS” FOR AMERICA

by Sharon Rondeau

(Aug. 11, 2020) — On Tuesday night’s “Hannity,” President Trump provided his view on presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden’s choice of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) for his running mate in November.

Harris was a district attorney in San Francisco followed by California attorney general prior to winning her U.S. Senate seat in 2016.

Trump said Harris opposes gun ownership, funding for the military and “the vets,” and favors socialized health care, views he deemed “dangerous.”

He said “180 million people love” their private health care plans which Harris intends to “destroy.”

In response to Hannity’s criticism of the Democrats’ “Green New Deal” and Harris’s co-sponsorship of the plan, Trump said, “We are now energy-independent for the first time…she’s against petroleum; she’s against fracking; so is Biden…,” a position he said voters in  energy-producing states such as Pennsylvania ad Oklahoma would find untenable.

He said energy companies which relocated overseas are returning to the U.S. He termed the Green New Deal “crazy” and emphasized his administration’s relaxing of federal regulations.

He reiterated that the stock market has largely recovered from its substantial losses after the coronavirus was declared a public health emergency in the U.S. in mid-March.

Hannity recounted that Harris supports abolishing the Immigration, Customs & Enforcement (ICE) agency.  In contrast, Trump said the new border wall now totals 281 miles and enjoys broad support from members of the U.S. Border Patrol.

He said currently, there are “very, very few coming in illegally” over the southern border and that Central-American countries are cooperating in repatriating citizens who the U.S. deports and returns to them.  Previously, he said, “they wouldn’t let our planes land.”

Primary-season “mainline Democrats,” Trump said, are losing elections to more “radical” candidates.  Mayor Bill deBlasio is responsible for the decline of New York City, Trump opined.

When Hannity asked Trump if he had suspected Harris would be Biden’s choice, he said he considered her a likely selection.  He recounted that she “said horrible things about Biden” during the primaries as she sought the presidential nomination and that she “agreed with the women” who accused Biden of inappropriate touching and interactions in the past.

He said he had doubted that Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, would be Biden’s choice.

On issues of race, Hannity recounted some of Biden’s comments dating back to his time in the U.S. Senate which some consider “racist” or, at a minimum, insensitive.

Trump said his campaign “does well” in local polls and on social media.  National polls over the past two months have reported Biden leading Trump, at times by a significant margin.

Trump recognized Republicans in the House and Senate for “getting it right” in regard to what he terms the “Russia hoax,” which purported the 2016 Trump campaign “colluded” with Russia to impact the election in Trump’s favor.

As he has previously, Trump called upon media companies, including The New York Times, to return the Pulitzer prizes they received for “getting it all wrong” concerning the collusion allegations which were ultimately not substantiated by a 22-month Special Counsel investigation.

The Russia allegations were “the worst political crime, I think, in the history of our country,” Trump opined.  “This had to do with Obama and Biden as well as Brennan and Comey and Clapper…” he added, referring to former CIA director John Brennan; former FBI Director James Comey; and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Hearkening back to proceedings which took place late last year after a “whistleblower” claimed he abused the power of his office on the phone with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump said, “They impeached me over a phone call that was absolutely perfect” and that Democrats “play a much dirtier game, a much tougher game than Republicans.”

“They have to get tougher,” he said of the latter.

Shifting to mail-in voting, which many politicians favor for the November 3 elections stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, Trump said, “It’s going to be a rigged election.”

As an example, he said in Virginia, a half-million absentee-voting applications were sent to non-voters, including pets.  “Millions of ballots” in Nevada do not require a signature, he said.

“It’s going to be catastrophic,” he predicted of mass mail-in voting.

Hannity invoked the riots and violence taking place in major U.S. cities since the May 25 death of George Floyd while in police custody and asked Trump for his views on “defunding the police.”

“We’ve talked to the governor, if you look at Oregon…,” he remarked, reiterating that his administration “would be glad to send in the National Guard.”

“We can solve the problems if they ask,” he said, adding that the federal courthouse in Portland remains a target of rioters causing mayhem for the last 74 nights.

Hannity remarked that Obama and Biden “had eight years” to accomplish “police reform” and the support of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).  In late 2018, the Trump administration passed a criminal-justice reform bill known as the “First Step” Act.  “I’ve done more for the black community than any other president except for perhaps Abraham Lincoln,” he said.  “We have tremendous African-American support,” he added, along with the support of Hispanics, who he said “understand the bad people who can come through our southern border.”

Trump said the U.S. “is doing very well” with coronavirus testing and that “the vaccine” and “therapeutics” will be available “soon.”

Hannity concluded the interview at 10:00 p.m. EDT, coinciding with the end of his program, then announced for the second time that Vice President Mike Pence will be his guest on Wednesday night.  Going into overtime, Hannity spoke with Laura Ingraham, whose program follows his each night, about the Harris pick, a discussion Ingraham continued in her opening monologue.