On Wednesday’s “CNN News Central,” Harris-Walz Campaign Co-Chair Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) said there are “generally very good economic numbers,” but “the recovery from the badly mishandled pandemic has been slow and long and difficult,” and that he expects 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic policies to be “a continuation of the pro-worker, pro-family, pro-opportunity agenda of the Biden-Harris administration” with some new proposals.
Co-host Boris Sanchez asked, “Polling…repeatedly shows that one of the Biden administration’s biggest liabilities going into this re-election effort has been the economy, affordability, and inflation. How do you think Vice President Harris has to differentiate herself, her policies on this issue?”
Coons answered, “First, I think that Vice President Harris can take credit for one of the biggest accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration, which was the Inflation Reduction Act provision that allows for the negotiation of prescription drug prices. We’ve capped insulin at $35 a month, out-of-pocket expenses will be capped at $2,000, starting next year, and the cost of prescription drugs [is] coming down for the most expensive drugs for millions of Americans. That’s a significant driver, and something I’m not confident former President Trump would support or wouldn’t roll back. There [are] also generally very good economic numbers, 16 million jobs created, 800,000 in manufacturing, the longest, lowest unemployment of our lifetimes, and the newest numbers on inflation show that inflation’s below 3% for the first time in many, many years. I do think that the Vice President will show a continued commitment to growing our economy from the bottom up and the middle out and make some new proposals. I’m looking forward to her remarks at the convention in Chicago next week, and to hearing what she has to say on the stage in North Carolina. I expect it to be a continuation of the pro-worker, pro-family, pro-opportunity agenda of the Biden-Harris administration.”
Coons added that the campaign will recognize “that the recovery from the badly mishandled pandemic has been slow and long and difficult, reminding people that it’s the former President who badly mishandled that pandemic, that the economic chaos and the job loss that resulted and the high inflation that resulted from our recovery from that pandemic is not her responsibility.”
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