Vice President Kamala Harris was Chuck Todd’s special guest on Sunday’s “Meet the Press.” The two touched on a variety of topics. Perhaps the most notable was Harris saying domestic threats are harming America. Harris pointed a finger at elected leaders who are questioning the integrity of elections and will not condemn the insurrection on Jan. 6.
“It is very dangerous, and I think very harmful. And it makes us weaker,” Harris said. “I think what it sends is a signal that causes people to question, ‘Hey, is America still valuing what they talk about?’ I think that through the process of what we’ve been through, we’re starting to allow people to call into question our commitment to those principles. And that’s a shame.”
Harris also spoke about President Joe Biden’s recent speech condemning the actions of MAGA extremists, which included calling them “semi-fascists.”
Harris told Todd, “Joe Biden has spent his entire career … working across the aisle, his whole career. Sometimes he’s been criticized for believing in bipartisanship, for believing in compromise, for believing in working across the aisle, finding common ground. But there are moments in time when we have to also agree, all good people who care about our country, that there are those who right now are vividly not defending our democracy. And I think we want that our commander in chief, that the president of the United States, will speak up and raise the alarm about what this means to our strength and our future, much less our integrity.”
Speaking of Biden, Harris talked about the 2024 presidential election, saying, “Listen, the president has been very clear that he intends to run again. And if he does, I will be running with him proudly.”
Here’s the entire transcript of Todd’s conversation with Harris.
Domestic threats
As I mentioned above, Harris talked about the domestic terrorist threat in this country. It’s the same message that former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson told MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart on “The Sunday Show.”
Johnson joined Capehart on the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Johnson said, “In the first 10 years or so after 9/11, our government, multiple administrations, Bush, Obama, were focused on what we refer to as foreign-directed terrorist attacks. In other words, a foreign terrorist organization directs a large-scale attack against the homeland; 9/11, of course, the attempted so-called underwear bomber in Detroit in 2009, the so-called shoe bomber. These were all attacks directed by al Qaeda. That evolved to — in the period 2014-2015, when I was secretary — that evolved to what we refer to as foreign-inspired attacks, where a foreign terrorist organization on the internet tries to inspire an attack here in the homeland. And we saw a spate of those small-scale attacks, shootings. Now the principal terrorist threat to our homeland is domestic-based, domestic-based violent extremism. And Homeland Security, FBI need to be focused on that principally as the terrorist threat to our homeland.”
Johnson added, “We are more divided politically today than we were 21 years ago in the aftermath of 9/11. In the aftermath of 9/11, this nation came together in ways that we had not seen for years. I worry that, if there were another crisis, another large-scale attack of some sort, we would quickly, politically, fall into various different camps. There may even be an argument about who did it. There might be somebody who says, it was not that group, it was this group, fake news.”
Clinton speaks
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was a guest on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday and talked about several topics, including remembrances of 9/11 and Queen Elizabeth II, as well as the latest involving Donald Trump and the FBI.
Host Dana Bash also asked who Clinton thought was the “gutsiest person” today in U.S. politics. Clinton said Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, adding, “because she has shown through all kinds of turmoil and challenge what it means to somewhat like the queen to be drawing an analogy here, get up every day, put on those high heels she wears, suit up to fight for the values and ideals that she strongly believes in. And of course Vice President Kamala Harris is someone who is breaking totally new ground, and I know that's not easy.”
Bash asked Clinton about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent comments in GQ that Americans “hate women” and women of color, in particular, and her questioning whether the U.S. will ever have a female president.
“Well, I think it's sad that we have so many people who seem to either resent or oppose women in the public arena whether it's politics and government or the media or anything else,” Clinton said. “That's something we have to keep standing up against and speaking out against. And I think that a woman will become our president at some point. I certainly understand all of the obstacles you have to overcome to get there. But I continue to tell young women and girls that if they feel motivated to pursue political office, they should do so with their eyes wide open about how hard it is. And unfortunately, social media, with all of its misogyny, has made it more difficult, but we can't be bullied into silence of giving up on our dreams. We have to continue to pursue them and encourage others to do the same.”
Are you ready for some football?
