CNN anchor Erin Burnett seemed surprised that Vice President Kamala Harris had at one point indicated that she supports “taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for detained illegal immigrants” — a far cry from her more central positions that she has made during the current presidential campaign. .
“She actually said she supported him?” Burnett asked CNN colleague Andrew Kaczynski during a segment on her late-night show Monday.
Kaczynski had reported on Monday that Harris supported distinctly liberal positions when she filled out a questionnaire distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2019, when she was a US senator representing California.
According to CNN, Harris supported taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for undocumented immigrants and federal prisoners, as well as the decriminalization of federal drug possession for personal use.
“It is important that transgender individuals who rely on the state for care receive the treatment they need, which includes access to treatment related to gender transition,” Harris wrote in the questionnaire.
She touted her record as California state attorney general when she “pushed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to offer gender transition surgery to state inmates.”
“Transitional treatment is a medical necessity, and I will direct all federal agencies responsible for providing essential medical care to provide transitional treatment,” she added.
Harris also wrote in the questionnaire that she favored drastic funding cuts to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency tasked with rounding up and deporting undocumented migrants.
Take 3:33 of your time and watch CNN’s Erin Burnett struggle to understand how anyone can take the positions that Kamala Harris has taken over her career.
Taxpayer-funded gender transition surgery for detained migrants?
Yes:
Legalize ALL dangerous drugs?
Yes.pic.twitter.com/vHeuKcWfWT
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) September 10, 2024
On the ACLU form, Harris also indicated that she supported an “end” to immigration detention centers.
“Our immigration detention system is out of control and I believe we must end the unjust imprisonment of thousands of individuals, families and children,” Harris wrote in the questionnaire.
She vowed that “as president, I will focus enforcement on increasing public safety, not tearing apart immigrant families.”
“I was one of the first senators after President Trump was elected to advocate for a cut in ICE funding.”
“This includes requiring ICE to obtain a warrant when probable cause exists to end the use of detainers.”
The ACLU sent the questionnaire to all Democratic and Republican candidates running for president in 2020.
Harris that year sought the Democratic nomination for president, but she bowed out of the race before voting began in the primaries and caucuses.
Joe Biden eventually won the nomination and went on to defeat then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Harris has given only one interview since it was announced that Biden would not seek a second term — effectively giving her the nomination.
She has been criticized for changing her political positions from previous years, as well as refusing to answer questions about what her current positions are.
The Harris campaign declined to say whether the vice president holds the same positions today as she did in 2019.
A Harris campaign adviser told CNN that “the vice president’s positions have been shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris administration.”
The campaign declined to elaborate.
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