The Race To Define Kamala Harris Is On As GOP Unleashes Attacks On Her Progressive Record

WASHINGTON ― Republicans this week unleashed a wave of attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, accusing her of being a radical based on some of the liberal positions she took during her 2020 run for the Oval Office.

“She would literally be the most liberal person ever to seek the presidency, in my view,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said. “Every liberal train, she’s jumped on. If you think the country is going in the wrong direction, then I don’t see her turning it around.”

Harris, competing in a crowded field of candidates during the 2020 Democratic primary, staked out positions to the left of Joe Biden, who went on to win the Democratic presidential nomination and the White House. They included progressive priorities like so-called Medicare for All, abolishing private health insurance, the Green New Deal, and restructuring the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, also known as ICE.

Harris didn’t go quite as far to the left as the progressive campaigns of Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), but the middle lane she carved out in the race ultimately failed to please most Democratic voters, resulting in her dropping out in December 2019, before any ballots were even cast.

Now on the verge of becoming the Democratic presidential nominee just days after Biden withdrew from the 2024 race, Harris is already facing scrutiny over her record and even racist attacks from some on the right. The GOP has also sought to tie downballot Democrats to her positions, including her work in the Biden administration.

Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick ®, for example, released an ad Wednesday criticizing Harris with footage from her previous