Vice President Kamala Harris calls Republican presidential candidates ‘extremists’

No one on stage ‘won’ the debate. Instead, the American people heard how much they stand to lose from an extremist agenda, said Kamala Harris

Washington: Describing the Republican presidential candidates as “extremists”, Vice President Kamala Harris has said the participants at the party’s maiden primary debate laid out an agenda that makes the country less fair, less free and less safe.

“No one on stage ‘won’ the debate. Instead, the American people heard how much they stand to lose from an extremist agenda,” Harris, a Democrat, said after the two-hour Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The debate included two Indian-Americans Nikki Haley, 51, the former Governor of South Carolina, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 38.

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“One by one, each extremist Republican candidate laid out a vision for an America that is less fair, less free and less safe. These candidates want to raise costs for working families in order to benefit special interests and the ultra-wealthy. To gut Social Security and Medicare. To strip fundamental rights and basic freedoms from millions of people,” Harris, who is contesting in the 2024 race for the White House as the running mate of President Joe Biden, said.

“And to reverse the Bidenomics strategy that has helped create 13 million jobs, the strongest two years of small business creation in history, and record-low unemployment. These extremists focus on unnecessary debates meant to divide our nation in hopes that the American public will not notice they have no affirmative agenda,” the 58-year-old Vice President said.

“President Biden and I will continue to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, and build a nation in which all people can truly thrive. We are laser-focused on finishing the job we’ve started: to create good jobs, lower costs, fix America’s roads and bridges, create a clean energy economy, protect a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, keep our children safe from gun violence, and make sure all Americans can dream about their future with ambition and aspiration,” Harris said.

In a separate statement, Ajay Bhutoria, Deputy National Finance Chair for the Democratic National Committee, said MAGA Republicans attempted to divert attention from their controversial support for nationwide abortion bans by introducing new policy positions. However, the American people have consistently rejected their extreme anti-choice positions in recent elections, and they are likely to do so again in 2024. “It’s important to recognise the remarkable accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration,” he stated.

“From restoring the soul of the nation, passing the infrastructure Bill, achieving the lowest unemployment rate, enacting the Science and Chips Act, to revitalising manufacturing jobs in the USA and restoring America’s leadership on the global stage —President Biden and Vice President Harris have consistently delivered on their promises,” Bhutoria said.