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This is an adapted excerpt from the Sept. 18 episode of “The Beat with Ari Melber.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ coalition seems to be growing by the day and with less than 50 days to go until the election, she’s working to expand that coalition even further — highlighting the contrast between her and her opponent, Donald Trump. On Wednesday, she issued a new warning about Project 2025 and the dangers of a Trump second-term immigration crackdown, urging people to imagine and reckon with his plans for immigration policy.
And while Americans may want to forget what immigration policy was like under Trump’s first term, it’s important to see the facts. In 2016, Trump ran on a religious ban and then, once in office, he implemented a related Muslim-majority country ban while using policies to split up families on the southern border.
There was significant backlash to these policies at the time. Trump’s travel ban sparked confusion, chaos and protests at U.S. airports. It was then paused by courts and later narrowed. The Trump child separation policy, meant to be used as a crackdown to punish and dissuade migration, only elevated cruelty against children.
While addressing the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Wednesday, Harris urged people to remember the past and consider how it would shape the future in a Trump second term, warning about the former president’s mass deportation plan:
Donald Trump and his extremist allies will keep trying to pull us backward. We all remember what they did to tear families apart, and now they have pledged to carry out the largest deportation, a mass deportation, in American history. Imagine what that would look like and what that would be. How’s that going to happen? Massive raids? Massive detention camps? What are they talking about?
It’s not just immigration, Harris is broadening out her message, sharing her policies on abortion rights, health care and taxes. Contrast that with Trump’s “concepts of a plan.”
In the home stretch of this race, the Harris campaign is seeking out ways to highlight those key contrasts between her and Trump. Harris did just that in a new interview with the National Association of Black Journalists. In July, Trump had a meltdown during his sit-down with the NABJ.
During her interview, Harris remarked about the “profound responsibility” that comes along with a public platform. Responsibility is different than ideology and on that score, Harris continues to draw support — even from the other side. More top Republicans are backing Harris and calling Trump unfit to serve — precisely because they view him as irresponsible with the nation’s national security.
The Harris’ coalition now spans from the right edge of the GOP to the center and left of the Democratic Party to cultural figures who fill stadiums.
In recent days, there have been over 100 new endorsements from former members of Congress, defense secretaries and CIA directors.
They now join one of the GOP’s top hawks, Dick Cheney, who recently endorsed Harris. It’s an embrace that comes despite, not because, of policy.
The Harris coalition now spans from the right edge of the GOP to the center and left of the Democratic Party to cultural figures who fill stadiums, such as Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. Seriously, who else or what else could bring these people together … on anything?
They don’t agree on foreign policy, abortion policy, music policy. You won’t see them backstage together at the earning presentation for the oil company Haliburton, which Cheney ran. Or backstage at the Coachella music festival, which Eilish headlined. The one thing that brings them together is the conviction that Harris should be the next president, not Trump.
And they are taking these positions at the risk of upsetting their base. Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney spent their whole lives in GOP circles and plenty of Republicans buy music and go to concerts. So it’s more than unusual, in fact, it’s striking to see this organic, broad groundswell for Harris. And as Trump allies attack singers or lie and pretend they don’t want these endorsements, let’s be clear, they do.
That may be what’s happening in the zeitgeist but when it comes to the issues, Harris got some of the best economic news possible this week. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced it was lowering its key interest rate by half a percentage point. If this rate cut can impact the economic vibe just as early voting kicks off, that could be the difference in this election.
Allison Detzel contributed.
