The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee delivered head-scratching remarks about the “duality” of “democracy,” claiming paradoxically that it was both “incredibly strong” and “incredibly fragile” during a bus tour of western Pennsylvania with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“Our election is about understanding the importance of this beautiful country of ours in terms of what we stand for around the globe as a democracy,” Harris, 59, said at one event in Rochester, Pa.
“As a democracy, we know there’s a duality to the nature of democracy. On the one hand, incredible strength when it is intact, what it does for its people, to protect and defend their rights,” she went on.
“Incredibly strong — and incredibly fragile,” she added. “It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it. And that’s what this campaign is about.”
The Trump campaign and other Harris critics blasted out a video on X of the apparently unscripted comment, licking their chops at the Democratic candidate having served up another “fresh word salad.”
Kamala Harris serves up a fresh word salad as she describes the “duality to the nature of democracy” pic.twitter.com/w9PG1bzjbq
“We’re strong and fragile,” snarked Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen.
“They took Kamala off the teleprompter today in Pennsylvania,” added Outkick.com founder Clay Travis. “It didn’t go well.”
“THIS is why Comrade Kamala isn’t allowed to speak off script,” noted video journalist Nick Sortor, referring to the media blackout her campaign has pushed since she replaced President Biden at the top of the 2024 Democratic ticket.
But Daily Mail reporter Charlie Spiering, who authored a book on the beleaguered veep, resurfaced footage of a podcast interview Harris did four months ago where she first aired the “duality of democracy” trope, pointing out she had been “workshopping” the speech for some time.
“First Class Fatherhood” podcast host Alec Lace dubbed Harris “The Wizard of Word Salad” and echoed speculation that her campaign is preventing as many of the unguarded moments as possible.
“Kamala Harris was, is and will always be terrible on the stump. She has no natural gifts there and while her acceptance speech will be workmanlike,” predicted conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“Harris’ greatest strength is that she isn’t Joe Biden,” Hewitt said, adding that her “less-than-average speaking spills” will help “clarify” the differences between her and Republican opponent Trump “more quickly” — despite recent polls showing her in the lead ahead of the November election.
“Kamala Harris was, is and will always be terrible on the stump. She has no natural gifts there and while her acceptance speech will be workmanlike,” predicted conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“[S]he is a radical San Francisco Democrat who came out of the box Friday proposing price controls and massive subsidies for favored constituents trying to buy a first home, thus setting up a repeat of 2008 sub-prime crisis,” Hewitt explained. “Harris will get a bump this week, but then political gravity will work its inevitable physics.”
Asked by a reporter following an event in Moon Township, Pa., about her plan to “pay” for her radical economic policies, Harris harped on the “returns on investment” that her platform offered, without directly answering the question.
“We reduced child poverty by over 50%,” she said, touting the inclusion of a child tax credit in the 2021 American Rescue Plan, though some fact-checkers have quibbled with the overall size of that reduction.
“When we increase homeownership in America, what that means in terms of increasing the tax base, not to mention property tax base, what that does to fund schools,” she went on.
“I think it’s a mistake for any person who talks about public policy to not critically evaluate how you measure the return on investment,” Harris also said.
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said the exchange — one of the few times her campaign has allowed reporters to put her in the hot seat — proved she was “not a person ready to be President of the United States.”
“She can’t answer basic questions about how she plans to pay for her agenda,” Vance mocked.