Vice President Kamala Harris, long a vocal opponent of Trump’s border wall, found herself in an awkward spotlight this week during a CNN town hall event. While responding to host Anderson Cooper’s pointed questions, she admitted that Trump’s push for a wall on the southern border might not have been so off base after all.
The pivot, which involved Harris promoting a bipartisan bill containing $650 million in funding for the border wall—a project she once criticized as a “medieval vanity project”—has caused waves on both sides of the aisle.
As Cooper pressed her on the matter, Harris’s response was evasive at first, dodging direct questions about whether she still viewed a border wall as “stupid” or “useless.” When cornered, however, she attempted to laugh off her previous criticisms, instead pivoting to the stance that “good ideas” don’t discriminate by party lines.
CNN's Anderson Cooper grills Kamala Harris for now supporting giving money to build the border wall after she repeatedly attacked Trump for wanting to build a wall
Harris struggles significantly here and now calls the border wall "a good idea" pic.twitter.com/wshe6f4m1a
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) October 24, 2024
The Vice President’s stance represents a dramatic shift, especially from someone who has spent years blasting the wall as ineffective. Now, as the border crisis escalates, her sudden embrace of a plan she previously labeled “stupid” is raising eyebrows.
Cooper didn’t let up, reminding viewers that the $650 million she’s now backing was originally earmarked during Trump’s administration, making it a continuation rather than a new, innovative approach. Faced with Cooper’s questions, Harris doubled down on her newfound pragmatism, pledging to deliver a comprehensive bill to “strengthen and secure our border” if elected.
While Harris frames this as “working across the aisle,” it’s hard to ignore the strategic recalibration happening in real time. The border crisis has reached a boiling point, and Harris’s administration has yet to deliver any meaningful improvement.
With migrant crossings reaching record highs, the pressure to act is immense, and Harris’s shift to endorse wall funding looks like a belated recognition of Trump’s more hard-line measures.
The irony here is rich. The very wall Democrats lambasted for years is now being dressed up as a bipartisan necessity. Even Cooper, who typically stays neutral, seemed skeptical, pressing her repeatedly to explain why this “medieval vanity project” now warrants hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.