CNN’s, WaPo’s Rampell: Harris Still ‘Relatively Vague’ on Economy

On Friday’s “CNN Newsroom,” CNN Economics and Political Commentator, Washington Post columnist, and “PBS NewsHour” Special Correspondent Catherine Rampell said that 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris “remained relatively vague” on her economic policies during her interview with CNN on Thursday, and that’s “potentially because when she gets more specific, she’s vulnerable to criticisms.”

Rampell said, “I thought she remained relatively vague in talking about her policies. She talked about generally valuing investments in the middle class, opportunities for the middle class, and I think that’s, pretty much, a winning message. What that actually translates to in action, I think is yet to be seen.”

She continued, “I am heartened by the fact that she talked about the child tax credit as something that she would push on her very first day. I think this is — personally, I think this is a really important issue to make it more available, especially to lower-income families. I think that there is some potential for bipartisan support for expanding the child tax credit, there has been in the past. And, next year, a huge portion of the tax code is going to come up for grabs because the Trump tax cuts are expiring. So, there will be an opportunity to put that on the table, among other tax changes. So, that’s the part that I’m going to hold onto as most encouraging.”

Rampell further stated, “But, in general, she’s still speaking in pretty vague terms about what she wants to do, potentially because when she gets more specific, she’s vulnerable to criticisms. And, to be clear, Trump has been specific on some things, but they’re largely things that are antithetical to the objectives that he says he wants. He also talks about breaking — helping the middle class, bringing down prices, etc. But if you look at the things he’s put on the table, they tend to be things, like tariffs, that would actually raise prices. So, there are no heroes here, but, again, there are some things in Harris’ agenda that I think could be promising.”

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