| National
|
[
National ] [ Main Menu ] |
|
|
|
441483 |
|
|
Date: September 20, 2024 at 18:23:08
From: old timer, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Kamala Harris Tells Oprah if Somebody Breaks Into Her Home, ‘They’re G |
URL: Kamala Harris Tells Oprah if Somebody Breaks Into Her Home, ‘They’re Getting Shot’ |
|
Kamala Harris Tells Oprah if Somebody Breaks Into Her Home, ‘They’re
Getting Shot’
The remarkable utterance underscored Democrats’ increasing comfort
with the country’s gun culture, and how Harris is trying to use it to
puncture notions about female candidates.
By Jess Bidgood
Sept. 20, 2024
Updated 7:16 p.m. ET
The exchange, during a livestreamed forum with Oprah Winfrey and Vice
President Kamala Harris on Thursday, began with the kind of emotional
set piece that has become a grim go-to for Democrats campaigning on
gun safety.
There was a video about the terror of a school shooting. A teenage
gunshot victim in the audience with bandages on her wrist and arm. Her
tearful mother speaking directly to Harris and imploring those in power to
make a change.
But then, after Winfrey, a campaign surrogate, changed the subject to
Harris’s own gun ownership, the vice president reached for a different
kind of message entirely.
“If someone breaks in my house,” Harris said, as her voice broke into a
laugh, “they’re getting shot.”
ADVERTISEMENT
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
It was a remarkable utterance from a generally guarded candidate who
expressed immediate regret. As Oprah tried to Oprah — “I hear that, I hear
that,” she said — Harris admitted that she “probably should not have said
that,” and joked that her aides would clean up her comment.
“My staff will deal with that later,” Harris said, still laughing.
But it also underscored her party’s increasing comfort with the country’s
gun culture even as it campaigns against its dangers — and how Harris is
seizing on it in the slim window she has to introduce herself to a country
that has never elected a woman as president.
“Here’s my point, Oprah,” Harris said. “I’m not trying to take everyone’s
guns away.”
Guns and the presidency have gone hand in hand for much of American
history. You can buy a replica of one of George Washington’s flintlock
pistols for $156.99 at the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum — and the
Smithsonian has one of the originals. When Barack Obama was president,
the White House made a point of showing that he enjoyed skeet shooting
at Camp David.
But in recent years, it has generally been male Democrats from red states
— not female ones from California — who have made guns a supporting
character in their political campaigns.
In a 2010 campaign ad, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia shot a copy
of the cap-and-trade bill, an environmental measure that would have
limited emissions, with a rifle (he was running as a Democrat but has
since become an independent). In 2016, Jason Kander, a Missouri
Democrat who was then running for U.S. Senate, assembled an AR-15
while blindfolded, daring the incumbent Republican, Roy Blunt, to do the
same. And in 2018, the Democrat Jared Golden shot a bull’s-eye in a
campaign ad for his successful run for a swing congressional district in
Maine.
None of them, however, threatened in those ads to shoot an actual person
with their gun.
Harris’s comment — an ostensibly off-the-cuff moment from a candidate
who spoke just this week about choosing her words carefully — came at a
time when she is working hard to portray herself as tough in a campaign
against a male opponent who cares deeply about his own image of
strength. Her campaign ads and speeches linger on her years as a
prosecutor who locked up killers and transnational gangs, and they
promise new security measures at the border.
Her identity as a local district attorney, which during her 2019 presidential
campaign led progressives to dismiss her by saying, “Kamala’s a cop,” has
become a central part of her argument for the presidency.
Her gun has quickly become part of that image, even though she has said
relatively little about it. She told reporters in 2019 that she kept it for
personal safety; a campaign official said it was now in a secure location at
her home in California. It is not clear exactly when she bought it, or if a
specific episode or threat prompted the purchase.
What is clear is that Harris’s gun has become a symbol for a candidate
who is trying to upend preconceived notions about who a president
should be, and what Democrats represent.
The female politicians who have most closely associated themselves with
guns in recent years have tended to be Republicans like Sarah Palin or Kari
Lake, the Arizona Senate candidate who has posted pictures of herself
with a gun on social media and urged supporters to arm themselves for
the election.
The three other candidates atop the presidential ticket, all men, have
telegraphed their interest in guns, too. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota’s
penchant for hunting was practically the first thing the Harris campaign
told the nation about him. When Senator JD Vance of Ohio accepted his
nomination as vice president, he spoke of finding his grandmother’s 19
loaded handguns, and last year, when the country was obsessing over
Chinese spy balloons, he posted a photo of himself peering skyward while
holding a rifle.
And Trump visited a gun store last year and said he wanted to buy a
firearm — though his criminal indictments raised legal questions about
such a sale. My colleagues reported over the summer that the New York
Police Department was seeking to revoke his concealed carry permit after
he was convicted on 34 felony charges.
Harris has been trying to make the idea of a female president seem like
nothing unusual. Her talk about her gun may be a way of portraying
herself as not so different from the men she is running with and against,
and those she is running to follow into the presidency.
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[441484] [441485] [441509] [441495] [441486] |
|
441484 |
|
|
Date: September 20, 2024 at 19:47:25
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Kamala Harris Tells Oprah if Somebody Breaks Into Her Home,... |
URL: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4891685-harris-vp-shoot-joke/ |
|
Harris adviser says quip on shooting intruder was ‘a joke’
by Ashleigh Fields - 09/20/24 7:15 PM ET
Harris campaign adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms said the vice president’s comment to Oprah Winfrey Thursday night that she would shoot someone who broke into her house was a “joke.”
“It was a joke, and she knew that we would still be talking about it today, but I think it‘s important that people know that the vice president respects the right to bear arms, that she supports the Second Amendment, but she wants responsible gun ownership and she wants our communities to be safe,” Bottoms told Jake Tapper on CNN Friday afternoon.
Later in the interview, Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, added the comment “humanizes” Harris in a way that most don’t get to see.
During an interview with Oprah that aired Thursday, Harris said, “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.”
She proceeded to laugh and added that she probably “should not” have said it, but that her staff would “deal with that later.”
Harris said during her debate with former President Trump last week that she’s a gun owner, which Oprah said was news to her. Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has also talked about owning firearms.
“Here’s my point, Oprah. I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away. I believe in the Second Amendment,” Harris added. She said the gun control measures she supports are “just common sense.”
Harris also talked about being a gun owner during her first campaign for president.
“I am a gun owner, and I own a gun for probably the reason a lot of people do — for personal safety,” Harris said in 2019. “I was a career prosecutor.”
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[441485] [441509] [441495] [441486] |
|
441485 |
|
|
Date: September 20, 2024 at 20:17:57
From: old timer, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Kamala Harris Tells Oprah if Somebody Breaks Into Her Home,... |
|
|
kamala did say she shouldn’t have said that but her staff would deal with
that later. wonder if she will ever be able to go off script without her staff
have to deal with it later
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
[441509] [441495] [441486] |
|
441509 |
|
|
Date: September 22, 2024 at 08:52:18
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Kamala Harris Tells Oprah if Somebody Breaks Into Her Home,... |
|
|
I think what she said is fine.
For some reason, many republicans think they are the
only ones that own guns or acknowledge the 2nd
amendment.
The thing is, many of us believe that these military
weapons need to be dealt with. Last time they were
banned (and yes, it can be done..we have the right to
regulate weapons) these mass shootings went down to a
low.
"Responsible" ownership and regulation, background
checks, mental health screenings, etc. are part of what
needs to be done. And, in my opinion, removal of
military grade rifles or highly regulated so only those
who actually have any business owning them (law
enforcement, security work, etc) who are highly
trained, screened and vetted, should be done.
I live rural. Many own either long rifles to protect
livestock, or hand guns for personal protection. The
police can take a while to get to you in the boonies.
There are many legitimate hunters here, as well.
But, as has been said before, you don't need an AK47 to
hunt rabbit and deer. If you do, you need to hang it up
and find another hobby.
Again, I don't find what she said disagreeable or out
of line in anyway. I think her staff needs to let her
speak for herself.
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
None |
|
441495 |
|
|
Date: September 21, 2024 at 09:35:47
From: shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Kamala Harris Tells Oprah if Somebody Breaks Into Her Home,... |
|
|
Nah, old timer, that's *your* boy who can't function while
speaking -- even *with* a script...lol...
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
None |
|
441486 |
|
|
Date: September 20, 2024 at 20:20:55
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Kamala Harris Tells Oprah if Somebody Breaks Into Her Home,... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Responses:
None |
|
[
National ] [ Main Menu ] |