Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appeared to struggle during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday when discussing Vice President Kamala Harris’s stance on supporting the construction of the U.S. southern border wall.
Harris has come under fire from Republicans in recent weeks for not clarifying her changes in stance on various policies she advocated for during her 2020 campaign.
When ABC’s Jonathan Karl questioned Polis about Harris’s reversal on funding the southern border wall, Polis asserted that Democrats “have always been supportive of building barriers and walls.”
“Look, this is another issue that as it gets into the public discourse is very misleading. Democrats in general, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, you know, Barack Obama, have always been supportive of building barriers and walls for certain parts of the border as part of a comprehensive border security strategy —” Polis said.
“But wait a minute. She called the — she called the border wall a ‘medieval vanity project,’ a stupid use of money and said that she would block funding for it. So she wasn’t talking about supporting, you know, the wall,” Karl interjected.
Polis pushed back by labeling former President Donald Trump’s border wall as a “huge waste of taxpayer money.” He went on to say that Harris would secure the border in the “most cost-effective way,” which would include using “barriers and walls” as part of the strategy.
“That’s true, the border wall that Donald Trump has proposed is a huge boondoggle and waste of taxpayer money. He effectively talked about a wall across the entire border rather than using barriers of different kinds effectively in a cost effective manner including imagery from satellites, including on the ground intel to secure and lock down the border,” Polis said.
Gov. Jared Polis claims leftists have "always been supportive of building barriers and walls for certain parts of the border," and Kamala's plans to secure the border will be superior to Trump's border wall, which was a "huge boondoggle and waste of taxpayer money" 🤡 pic.twitter.com/P01MdlJ2ZX
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) September 1, 2024
“What Kamala Harris is for is securing the most cost-effective way possible to stop the illegal flow of people, of guns, of drugs across that southern border. And of course, Donald Trump’s border wall would not work, would waste taxpayer money,” Polis continued. “And of course, barriers and walls are a part of the overall comprehensive strategy that Kamala Harris will deliver on to secure the southern border.”
Jared Polis two days ago: Armed gang members taking over an apartment complex is a figment of your “imagination”
Today: “We are taking this seriously.”
Amazing how quickly that changed pic.twitter.com/nynVqbiHaE
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 31, 2024
After a recent Harris campaign ad aired, supporters of former President Donald Trump criticized the vice president for showing the U.S.-Mexico border wall in the video, which promoted her as the “border-state prosecutor.” In the past, Harris had described the wall as “un-American,” a “stupid waste of money,” and referred to it as Trump’s “medieval vanity project.” This apparent shift in tone has sparked curiosity among voters about her campaign’s changing stance on the border barrier.
