Threatening Dictator and Adversary of Liberty

By putting in effort, determination, and some genetic luck, Kamala Harris has managed to get on the presidential ballot without needing to win a single primary vote.

Don’t tell me the American Dream is dead.

Yes, Harris is a demagogue who uses cringy, convoluted platitudes.

But let’s examine her track record and stated beliefs.

It feels like ages ago when President Biden selected Harris as his running mate.

What you might not remember is how the media tried to convince us that the California senator was a nonpartisan negotiator.

Former Clinton ally George Stephanopoulos described Harris as “the middle-of-the-road, moderate wing of the Democratic Party.”

The New York Times labeled her a “pragmatic moderate,” while the Associated Press focused on her “centrist record.”

And so on.

One Washington Post columnist even called her a “small c conservative.”

The only issue was that, according to GovTrack, Harris’ Senate record leaned more left than red-diaper baby Bernie Sanders.

She was the least likely senator to join in bipartisan bills.

Harris didn’t get a Senate seat from California’s political establishment to waste her time working with others. She had her sights set on the presidency.

In her brief first term, few politicians excelled as much at tarnishing their adversaries.

Remember when Harris accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of gang rape?

This false image of moderation comes from Harris’ time as a prosecutor and Attorney General.

Harris liked to boast about using “a huge stick” as a prosecutor in San Francisco, threatening poor parents with jail time in her efforts to shape social policy — which wasn’t her role.

It’s true that Harris locked up many people to boost her political standing, some of whom may have been innocent.

And from her demeanor, she would likely imprison even more people if given the chance.

When pro-life journalist David Daleiden released videos of Planned Parenthood executives discussing the sale of body parts, Harris had his residence raided, seized evidence, and tried to put him behind bars.

She later collaborated with the abortion provider to draft legislation limiting the free speech rights of other pro-life advocates.

Like any authoritative figure, Harris enforces laws selectively when she sees fit.

One reason Kamala purportedly opposed Neil Gorsuch’s nomination was that the judge “consistently valued legalisms” — meaning he respected the Constitution — “over real lives.”

Kamala was never one for legal technicalities.

When Biden argued that Harris’ pledge to issue an executive order banning certain guns unilaterally would be unconstitutional, she countered: “I would just say: Hey, Joe, instead of saying ‘No we can’t,’ let’s say yes, we can,” before laughing at the idea that presidents couldn’t do as they pleased.

As a national candidate, Kamala believed immigration laws should be treated as civil rather than criminal offenses.

She supported eliminating private health insurance — “Let’s eliminate all of that. Let’s move on,” she told CNN.

In addition to nationalizing healthcare and education, Harris wants the government to oversee the manufacturing sector, the auto industry, food, and any industry emitting carbon.

Harris favored abolishing the filibuster to overturn state voting laws, nationalizing abortion up to birth, and implementing the Green New Deal — an economic takeover authored by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez banning fossil fuels, mandating the retrofitting of every building in the country, ending air travel and meat consumption, and creating government jobs, among other authoritarian measures.

Regarding foreign policy, her stance is unclear, but we can infer.

This week, Harris refused to attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, the prime minister of the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

A few weeks ago, she praised anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas campus demonstrators as showing the appropriate emotional response.

In the past, she openly protested with Islamic Republic propagandists from the National Iranian American Council. In some respects, her disposition aligns more with them than with others.

When I claim that Harris is an authoritarian, I don’t mean she’s Hitler.

I’m saying she prioritizes obedience to authority, particularly Democrat-run government, over personal freedom in ways that are fundamentally un-American.

This is a troubling trend in politics, and few politicians embody it as strongly as Kamala Harris.

David Harsanyi is a senior editor at the Federalist. Twitter @davidharsanyi