STEVE CORTES: Kamala Harris Backs Reparation Payments — Voters In This Swing State Disagree

New battleground polling shows that voters in the key state of Arizona do not support race-based reparations payments that are backed by Vice President Kamala Harris. As a senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation to…

Steve CortesAug 14, 20244 min read

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New battleground polling shows that voters in the key state of Arizona do not support race-based reparations payments that are backed by Vice President Kamala Harris.

As a senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation to create a reparations commission to study a race-based equity agenda, including direct payments to black Americans. Now Vice President Harris continues her support for divisive and unjust reparations, which would punish people today for oppression that occurred before they were even born. Nonetheless, in an interview with The Root, Harris remarked that “there have to be some form of reparations.”

The sensible citizens of Arizona do not agree — not even a little bit. Overall, only 21% of likely voters there support reparations, while 66% oppose them and 14% are unsure.

The poll was run by Iron Light Intelligence for my populist laborers’ organization, the League of American Workers. It questioned 600 likely voters in the Grand Canyon State and found that the presidential race is a dead heat tie, with 43% each for former President Donald Trump and Harris, plus 7% for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and 7% undecided.

In such a tight race, an issue like reparations could well provide the determinative margin of victory.

Why?

Well, even among Harris voters, 44% oppose reparations. Among undecided voters, only 6% support reparations. Think about that number. Only a minuscule fraction of undecided voters support Harris’ reparations schemes.

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So, this radical goal represents a huge vulnerability for Harris if Trump supporters message effectively and often on this crucial issue. Think about the practical fallout of taking money from Hispanic, Asian and white Americans to give it to their black neighbors for crimes committed 160 years ago. Such programs would put America on the same path as South Africa, a country that is embroiled in constant, turbocharged racial bitterness and sectarian violence.

Trump himself needs to confront Harris on this issue at the upcoming debate. In addition, the Trump campaign and all of us working to elect Trump to a second term must fully expose Harris’ extremism on this topic.

Consider, for example, the status of Harris herself on this issue. Since she is half Indian and half black, would she receive a half payment? Would she have to pay on her Indian side, collect as half black, so it cancels out to a wash for her? These questions seem ridiculous… because they are! The entire notion of race-based payments and preferences is ridiculous and patently anti-white, Hispanic and Asian.

Also, regarding reparations, they were in fact paid. America sacrificed mightily to end the evil of slavery. In fact, the suffering endured to free blacks is almost unfathomable in today’s terms. I wrote about this very issue for RealClearPolitics in 2019:

“But in point of fact, our country already paid reparations mightily, waging a devastating war to end the evil of slavery. The reparations were paid with the lives of well over 300,000 Union soldiers, men who died to reunite our nation and abolish human bondage on these shores. In fact, the Civil War was so brutal that the total loss of life equates to over 7 million dead in today’s population terms. Those radicals rude enough to demand additional reparations should visit Gettysburg National Cemetery, where over 3,500 Union soldiers lay for eternity, their young lives sacrificed for a great cause that led to the elimination of slavery in our land. Reparations were indeed paid, not just by those brave men but by the widows and orphans they left behind.”

So, let’s bury this divisive and Marxist idea of race-based reparations. One key step toward that goal is defeating Harris — and she is super vulnerable on this issue.

Steve Cortes is former senior advisor to President Donald Trump, former commentator for Fox News and CNN, and president of the League of American Workers, a populist right pro-laborer advocacy group.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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