A video has resurfaced that sparked a backlash against the Democratic candidate after Kamala Harris vowed to implement controversial policies.
In a 2019 speech, Harris threatened to “take away” patents from pharmaceutical companies to cut costs, and the video sparked concern among voters on social media.
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During a campaign speech in Iowa at the time, Harris said that as president she would ensure the government established fair markets.
She also said companies that don’t comply will have federal funding cut off to lower drug prices.
“We’re going to take their patents and we’re going to take over,” she said in the resurfaced video.
Then one of the attendees at the rally asked, “Is that even possible?”
Read more about Kamala Harris
“Yes you can!” she replied.
“The question is, is there the will to do it?
“I have the will to do it.”
“The most horrifying thing I’ve ever heard.”
The footage has been circulated by X Channel, leading critics to accuse Ms Harris of plotting a “government takeover”.
“This is the most horrifying thing I’ve ever heard from a US presidential candidate,” one X user wrote.
“Kamala Harris has boasted about nationalizing private sector assets. She said she would ‘take away’ their patents.”
“She has the authority to do so. If you let the state steal your intellectual property, you will have the state requisition all your property.”
“This is a true dictator in waiting.”
“A party that fears a ‘threat to our democracy’ is nominating a would-be dictator,” film director Eric Avenante wrote in a post.
Kamala’s legal background
Kamala’s legal and political career spans decades.
Kamala Harris began her career as a district attorney in San Francisco when she was hired by then-District Attorney Terrence Harin in 1998. Since then, she has worked on a number of controversial cases.
In 2004, Harris worked on the shooting death of Officer Isaac Espinosa. According to Calm Matters, the 29-year-old San Francisco officer was riding in an unmarked car with his partner when they flashed their lights at a man named David Hill.
Hill fired several rounds from her AK-47 at the officers, killing Espinosa. When Hill was indicted, Harris refused to seek the death penalty. She faced significant backlash for this decision. Harris’ decision to reject the death penalty immediately marked her as an anti-police prosecutor.
Since the case, Harris has positioned herself as a “progressive prosecutor,” but many on the left say she has been too harsh.
“I don’t know what Harris can do to regain the trust of people who know her well that, like other prosecutors, she has built a career on sending people to prison and being tough on crime,” Wanda Bertram, a communications strategist at the Prison Policy Initiative, told Vox.
“Oh my goodness, this is insanity,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in response to the video.
“When Kamala Harris first ran for president in 2019, she said that if she became president, she would take away people’s legally binding patents on their products and inventions and make it the government,” wrote another X user.
“This woman is a total communist and she is trying really hard to hide it this time.
“We must not allow such people to ruin a capitalist country,” he added.
“She’s a madwoman.”
The insults hurled at Harris echoed comments made by Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, where he criticised his rival in the upcoming presidential election.
He said Harris’ economic relief plan “may sound good politically, but it’s still very dangerous” and “communist.”
“People tell me not to use bad language,” he said at the event in Wilkes-Barre.
“They say not to call people stupid, but they are stupid. How else can you put it?”
“She’s a socialist lunatic,” he continued.
“And another thing: don’t call her a madman, but she is a madman.”
“Everyone tells me to be nice. Have you heard her laugh? That’s the laugh of a madman.”
“That’s the laugh of a madman,” he said.
The controversial video was released just days before the Democratic National Convention began in Chicago.
Trump and Harris themselves are scheduled to face off in a debate on ABC on September 10.
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