The anchor asked Harris about her support for a border bill that included funding for a wall, which she previously called useless.
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Anderson Cooper Gives Kamala Harris a Bruising CNN Town Hall
CNN anchor Anderdon Cooper challenged Vice President Kamala Harris over the Biden administration's record on illegal immigration and her personal attitude toward a border wall during the network's town hall on Wednesday. However some commentators were skeptical of her performance, saying she "focused a lot more on Donald Trump" than her own policies.
Cooper asked Harris to explain her support for a bipartisan immigration deal that included $650 million in spending on a border wall—though she previously "criticized the wall more than 50 times" and labeled a wall "stupid," "useless" and "a medieval vanity project."
Harris responded: "So let's talk about Donald Trump and that border wall. Remember Donald Trump said Mexico would pay for it? Come on, they didn't. How much of that wall did he build? I think the last number I saw is about 2 percent. And then when it came time for him to do a photo op you know where he did it? In the part of the wall that President Obama built."
Harris has taken a harder line on immigration as exclusive polling for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies showed 53 percent of Democrat-leaning voters support a stronger approach to the issue.
Philip van Scheltinga, of Redfield & Wilton Strategies, told Newsweek: "When even Democratic voters are overwhelmingly unhappy with the situation as it has developed, then it is time for the Democratic Party to revisit their position."
Cooper asked Harris why she pledged to reintroduce the bipartisan border bill if she won in November, considering her past opposition to a border wall. The Democratic nominee replied, "I'm not afraid of good ideas where they occur."
The CNN host then said, "So you don't think it's stupid anymore?" Harris, referring to Trump, replied, "I think what he did and how he did it did not make much sense because he actually didn't do much of anything."
There was some criticism of Harris' performance after the debate, with CNN host Jake Tapper saying she "focused a lot more on Donald Trump...than she did on many of the specifics in terms of what she would do."
Referring to swing voters, CNN journalist Dana Bash added: "If her goal was to close the deal, [undecided voters] aren't sure she did that."
On X, Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid said: "At the CNN townhall, Kamala Harris shows herself to be completely unable to address questions about U.S. complicity in Gaza's destruction. She says too many civilians have been killed but refuses to say anything about America's role in the supplying the weapons that kill them."
Democrats realize attacking Donald Trump is not a winning strategy. Kamala Harris is being criticized by the left for her townhall proformamce.