Kamala vows to shoot intruders in Oprah town hall

To hear the New York Times tell it, you’d think Vice President Kamala Harris had finally started answering questions about the Biden administration’s accomplishments and her own policy positions. The Times claims Kamala “hit core campaign themes,” “spoke off the cuff” and “confronted a range of pressing issues” in a two-hour sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey.

But did she really?

When asked about how she would secure the southern border — one of voters’ top concerns — Kamala said:

So it’s a wonderful and important question. I, you know, my background was as a prosecutor, and I was also the elected attorney general for two terms of the border state. So this is not a theoretical issue for me. This is something I’ve actually worked on.

According to the New York Post, this meandering declaration was part of Kamala’s “three-minute answer, which ended with her blasting Republicans for not passing the bipartisan border bill.”

Oprah pressed Kamala on whether her plan includes getting the failed border bill passed, and she said “absolutely.”

The interview made headlines for another point Kamala has been repeating recently: that she’s a gun owner. But even here, Kamala, as usual, said something without really saying anything. After asserting with her signature laugh that, “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot, sorry,” Kamala followed up with, “Probably should not have said that, but my staff will deal with that later” and more laughter.

Oprah called Kamala’s purported status as a gun owner “powerful,” and there’s likely a calculated reason why a pro-Second Amendment stance has recently become one of the topics in Kamala’s Magic Eight Ball answer routine. The Wall Street Journal reported today that, “After decades of decline, gun ownership is rising among Democrats.”

Does Kamala know the type and caliber of gun she supposedly owns? Does she practice with it? Something tells me her answer to these questions would be much longer than three minutes and even less specific than her answer to the border question. The Spectator reached out to the Harris campaign following the presidential debate to ask what kind of gun she owns — and if she owns more than one! — and has not heard back. 

-Teresa Mull

On our radar 

‘THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS’ Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy held a town hall with more than 300 people in Springfield, Ohio after former president Donald Trump said that Haitian migrants are eating people’s pets during the latest presidential debate. Ramaswamy grew up an hour from Springfield and spoke about problems with the US immigration system.

ISRAEL HITS AGAIN Israel targeted a senior Hezbollah leader in an air strike in Lebanon, the latest in retribution to the terror group for launching rockets at Israel since October 8, 2023. Israel claims the strike killed Ibrahim Aqeel, who was wanted by the US for his involvement in the 1983 embassy bombings that killed hundreds.

SAFETY IN NUMBERS The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill to bolster security for presidential nominees following two assassination attempts against former president Donald Trump. The legislation was rolled out after the first attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania during a campaign rally, during which Trump was shot in the ear. 

Congress: leave our gas cars alone!

In a rare display of bipartisanship, Congress told the Biden administration to keep its hands off of America’s cars. Eight Democrats joined almost every Republican in the House in supporting a measure from Representative John James of Michigan that pushed back against what he calls the administration’s “de-facto electric vehicle mandate.”

The White House has already promised a veto on this measure, despite the bipartisan vote. Every Democrat who sided with Republicans faces at least a potentially competitive bid for reelection this year; the only swing state Democrat who sided with his colleagues opposing the measure was Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

Electric vehicles have emerged as a hot-button issue in this year’s presidential election given their salience in Michigan; recent polling shows that EV mandates for consumers poll in the single-digits in a Michigan House district. 

Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan embodies the Democratic Party’s shift on the issue of EVs. Despite her previous support for bringing a Chinese electric battery manufacturer to Michigan, she recently flipped to oppose its completion. 

–Matthew Foldi

Kara-no-ke

A spy tells Cockburn that visitors to the White House Hispanic heritage event this week were treated to an unwelcome bit of impromptu karaoke… courtesy of a well-oiled Ana Navarro from The View and White House social secretary Carlos Elizondo. The pair “kept grabbing the mic from the singer,” says a source, as they warbled “Guantanamera.” Apparently neither the White House staffer nor the former Republican should be auditioning for The Voice any time soon. It is unclear if Tres Padres was served at the event…

–Cockburn