Kamala Harris won’t say how she’ll pay for $1.7T spending plan in first solo interview with major news network

Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday refused to explain how she intends to pay for her pricey economic plan if Republicans in Congress block her proposed presidential agenda, one of several questions she dodged during her first one-on-one interview with a major news network since becoming the Democratic nominee. 

“If you can’t raise corporate taxes, or if the GOP takes control of the Senate, where do you get the money to do that? Do you still go for those plans and borrow?” MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle asked Harris about her handout-heavy agenda.  

“Well, but we’re going to have to raise corporate taxes,” the Democratic nominee responded, without explaining how she intends to do that without congressional support.  

“We’re going to have to make sure that the biggest corporations and billionaires pay their fair share,” Harris continued. “That’s just it. It’s about paying their fair share.”

When Ruhle asked Harris how she would ensure that businesses hit with corporate tax hikes don’t leave the US, the vice president claimed that CEOs are supportive of her plan to raise the corporate rate from 21% to 28%. 

“Well, listen, I work with a lot of CEOs,” Harris said. “I have spent a lot of time with CEOs. And I’m going to tell you that the business leaders who are actually part of the engine of America’s economy agree that people should pay their fair share.

“They also agree that when we look at a plan such as mine — that is about investing in the middle class, investing in new industries, investing and bringing down costs, investing in entrepreneurs like small businesses — that the overall economy is stronger and everyone benefits,” she added. 

Harris’ proposed economic agenda, which includes measures to dole out $25,000 to first-time homebuyers and give up to $6,000 in tax breaks to families who have a child in their first year of life, comes with an estimated price tag of $1.7 trillion, according to an analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.  

Harris later talked past a leading question from Ruhle about how she would address price gouging without implementing price controls. 

“So, just to be very frank, I am never going to apologize for going after companies and corporations that take advantage of the desperation of the American people,” the vice president responded, calling her proposed federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries “part of a much more comprehensive plan on what we can do to bring down the cost of living.” 

Harris also dodged questions regarding lifting the state and local tax deductions for federal taxpayers and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ refusal to endorse her. 

She resorted to talking points about the need to fix the nation’s “broken immigration system” and the failed Senate border bill when asked about what she would do to help communities “at capacity” from taking in migrants. 

“We need a comprehensive plan that includes what we need to do to fortify not only our border, but deal with the fact that we also need to create pathways for people to earn citizenship,” she said, providing no answer for how she would deal with cities burdened by the influx of migrants. 

The vice president also served up several word salads during her MSNBC sitdown. 

“I’d — frankly, I’m going to — and I say this in all sincerity – he’s just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues,”  Harris said when asked about former President Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs on foreign goods. “And one must be serious and have a plan — and a real plan that’s not just about some talking point ending in an exclamation at a political rally, but actually putting the thought into what will be the return on the investment? What will be the economic impact on everyday people?”

At one point in the interview, Harris leaned on the word “holistically” to get through an answer about bringing down housing costs.   

“Some of the work is going to be through what we do in terms of giving benefits and assistance to state and local governments, around transit dollars, and looking holistically at the connection between that and housing and looking holistically at the incentives we in the federal government can create for local and state governments to actually engage in planning and holistic manner,” she said. 

She also gave a repetitive response when Ruhle asked her to respond to Americans who don’t support her policy proposals. 

“If you have the dreams and the ambitions and the aspirations of what I believe you do, you’re in my plan,” she said. “You know, I have to tell you I really love and I’m so energized by what I know to be the spirit and character of the American people. We have ambition, we have aspirations, we have dreams.”

Harris did not offer any new policy proposals at any point in the interview.