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7 times Kamala Harris effortlessly proved just how incompetent Trump really is

7 times Kamala Harris effortlessly proved just how incompetent Trump really is
Spencer Platt / Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's presidential running mate, has been a force in US politics since 2017.

In that time, she's led the charge against Republican justice Brett Kavanaugh, drawn up plans to abolish ICE's practice of keeping children in cages and even run for president.

Harris's successes, achieved during such a short period of time, have repeatedly shown up Trump to be completely incompetent.

Here's 7 times that Harris has spoken up or acted on her convictions, while Trump has faltered and even frustrated progress.

1. Harris made a powerful statement against Brett Kavanaugh, while Trump defended him

When judge Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to be associate justice of the Supreme Court in spite of sexual assault allegations, which he denies. Harris was amongst those leading the charges against him. In a statement at the time, she said:

Senate Republicans used raw power to rush an unfit nominee onto the Supreme Court when the American people have more questions than answers about Judge Kavanaugh's ability to serve. 

When Dr Christine Blasey Ford came forward with serious and credible allegations of sexual assault, not only was she attacked by Senate Republicans, she was mocked by the President of the United States. 

Trump, meanwhile, decried the charges against Kavanaugh as a "campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception".

He also described Harris as "nasty" because of her role in questioning Kavanaugh as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

She was extraordinarily nasty to Kavanaugh, judge Kavanaugh, now justice Kavanaugh. She was nasty to a level that was just a horrible thing the way she was, the way she treated now-justice Kavanaugh. And I won't forget that soon.

2. Harris took a stand on gun laws while Trump faltered

One of the issues Harris is most passionate about is gun control. When running for president, she promised to take executive action if sensible gun control laws were not passed through Congress within 100 days of her election. Speaking on the issue, she said:

There are plenty of students who, while you were in high school, even middle school, had to participate in a drill where you were convened and your teachers taught you about how you need to go and run in a closet because there may be a mass shooter roaming the hallways of your school. And in our America, that should never have to happen. 

Why do we have to have a drill like that? The response is, because there are people in Washington D.C., supposed leaders, who have failed to have the courage to reject a false choice which suggests you're either in favour of the second amendment or you want to take everyone's guns away. 

In his 2015 book, Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America, Trump wrote:

Unfortunately, as expected, bringing more government regulation into the situation has accomplished very little. The main ‘benefit’ [of this] has been to make it difficult for a law-abiding American to buy a gun. As study after study has proven, few criminals are stupid enough to try to pass a background check or have their names in any kind of system.

In practice, Trump has promised reform to gun laws several times, particularly in the wake of mass shootings, but has failed to take decisive action.

3. Harris is pro-choice, while Trump has protested healthcare rights

Harris's voting record confirms that she is consistently pro-choice. During a candidates' debate, she made a powerful statement about abortion:

Reproductive healthcare is under full on attack in America today. There are states that have passed laws that will virtually prevent women from having access to reproductive healthcare.

It is not an exaggeration to say women will die, poor women, women of color, because these Republican legislatures who are out of touch with America are telling women what to do with our bodies. People need to keep their hands off of women's bodies and let women make the decisions about their own lives.

Earlier this year, Trump became the first president in United States history to attend the March for Life, a protest against abortion rights that has happened every year since it was legalised in 1974. Speaking at the march, he said:

We're here for a very simple reason: to defend the right of every child born and unborn to fullfil their God-given potential.

4. Harris spoke up about children being kept in cages, which Trump's administration allowed

As part of Trump's 'zero tolerance' immigration policy', migrant children are separated from their parents when they enter the US and are sometimes kept in cages in detention centres along the border.

Harris has described this practice as "child's worst nightmare" and called on Trump's administration to end the practice.

This morning, thousands of children woke up without their parents – not knowing where they were, not knowing when they would see them again, not knowing the adults who surround them, having no relationship of trust with these people who have removed their ability to be in the arms and embrace of their parents.

This is simply inhumane and it is unacceptable.

Harris, along with representative Pramila Jayapal, created the DONE Act in order to end the practice.

But Trump has defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) strategies, commenting last year:

I want people to know that if they come into the United States illegally, they're getting out. They're going to be brought out. And this serves as a very good deterrent.

5. Harris wants to close the pay gap, while Trump has questioned its existence

To close the gender pay gap, Harris has drawn up a plan under which companies would be compelled to disclose pay data to the Equal Opportunities Commission. This would mean that discrepancies in pay could be addressed when they arise. Announcing this plan, she said:

For too long, we’ve put the burden entirely on workers to hold corporations accountable for pay discrimination through costly lawsuits that are increasingly difficult to prove. We’ve let corporations hide their wage gaps, but forced women to stand up in court just to get the pay they’ve earned.

The pay gap reportedly tripled at the White House after Trump became president. But Trump has said that it's "very hard" to identify instances were men and women are doing comparable jobs, and has even called equal pay "dangerous" and "socialistic".

If you start to say everybody gets equal pay, you get away from the whole American Dream. You're into a socialistic society.

6. Harris has said she will stand up for "Black America", while Trump has branded Black Lives Matter a "symbol of hate"

In 2017, Harris simultaneously became California's third female senator, second Black senator and first South-Asian senator, as she has both Black and Asian heritage.

She is also the first Black woman and first woman of Indian descent to be nominated as vice president for the United States. Harris has promised to "stand up for Black America", and has prioritised historically Black colleges and universities for delivering campaign speeches.

Trump, on the other hand, has labelled Black Lives Matter protesters as "thugs" and has even tear-gassed peaceful protesters. In one speech, he said:

They're anarchists. Nothing short of anarchists, agitators.

7. Harris has outlined a climate change plan, while Trump has pushed conspiracy theories

Along with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Harris has drawn up a plan to tackle climate change. The pair hope to establish an independent Office of Climate and Justice Accountability to ensure that when climate laws are introduced, their impact on low-income communities are taken into account.

She has also acknowledged the role climate change has played in causing destruction in America. At the time of widespread Californian wildfires, she said:

As California breaks one wildfire record after another, we need to speak the truth—in order to mitigate these fires, we must combat the effects of climate change.

Trump has repeatedly contradicted himself on climate change and pedalled false conspiracy theories. He said:

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

Ahead of the November election, Trump and Pence's legacy will be measured up against Biden and Harris's plans.

Judging by where they stand on crucial issues, US voters will be faced with a stark choice when assessing the two.

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