Ukraine, abortion and guns: Where does Kamala Harris stand on key issues?
The current favourite for the nomination is expected to largely stick to Biden’s playbook on big foreign policy matters.
Kamala Harris is in pole position to become the Democrats’ election pick after Joe Biden withdrew – but where does she stand on some of America’s key issues?
Ukraine
Ms Harris has met President Zelenskyy multiple times in the last few years and strongly supports the ongoing fight against Russia.
She has rejected the idea Americans will grow weary of providing aid to Ukraine amid the country’s own inflation problems.
“I know the American people feel a sense of moral outrage and a sense of responsibility for our nation to stand with the Ukrainian people around these atrocities,” she told NBC News in 2023.
She reiterated her support at this year’s Munich security conference, saying America was committed to “defend the basic principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity and to stop an imperialist authoritarian from subjugating a free and democratic people”.
Ms Harris told the audience: “You have made clear that Europe will stand with Ukraine, and I will make clear President Joe Biden and I stand with Ukraine.”
Abortion
The overturning of the federal right to an abortion in 2022 was a huge and divisive moment for the US.
The Supreme Court ruling was narrowly passed with the help of three conservative judges appointed by Donald Trump.
Ms Harris has said “everything is at stake” on the issue in November’s election – and it could prove a key campaign point if she’s confirmed as candidate.
Earlier this year, she also became the first vice president or president to visit an abortion provider as part of a high-profile “reproductive freedoms tour”.
“Fundamentally, on this issue, it’s about freedom,” Ms Harris told MSNBC.
“Every person of whatever gender should understand that, if such a fundamental freedom such as the right to make decisions about your own body can be taken, be aware of what other freedoms may be at stake.”
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Middle East
Joe Biden’s approach to Israel has caused unease among some supporters who feel he should be tougher – for example by attaching conditions to weapons shipments.
But, as with Ukraine and other foreign policy matters such as China and Iran, it’s believed Ms Harris would broadly stick with her boss’s approach.
“She may be a more energetic player but one thing you shouldn’t expect – any immediate big shifts in the substance of Biden’s foreign policy,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for Democratic and Republican administrations.
However, there is some indication she might choose to publicly strike a tougher tone on the Gaza War.
Ms Harris has at times spoken out ahead of the official White House line.
She bluntly criticised Israel in March, saying it wasn’t doing enough to alleviate the “humanitarian catastrophe”, and later that month didn’t rule out “consequences” if it launched a full-scale invasion of Rafah.
Immigration
Donald Trump has again pledged to stop illegal immigration through the Mexican border – an emotive issue for many voters, especially in the southern states.
Republicans have attacked Ms Harris’s record on immigration, claiming she was President Biden’s “border czar” – a characterisation disputed by many – and has failed to stem illegal arrivals.
Ms Harris was officially put in charge of a “root causes” strategy in the early days of the Biden administration, tasked with improving conditions in countries such as Honduras and El Salvador.
However, mimicking the situation in Europe, many thousands are still choosing to risk their lives making perilous journeys.
Ms Harris said in February that the immigration system “has been broken for decades” but that it was also important to maintain legal routes
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“Let us remember: we are a nation of immigrants,” she said in a White House statement.
“We know that in America, diversity is our strength. So rather than politicise this issue, let us all address it with the urgency and seriousness it requires,” she added.
Gun control
The vice president has campaigned for tougher gun laws as part of the Biden administration – and would likely continue this push as the Dems’ candidate.
In 2022, she backed a rare bipartisan package of gun safety laws seen as the most significant legislation on the issue in three decades.
It included tougher background checks for younger gun owners and red flag laws to make it easier to confiscate weapons.
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Ms Harris oversees the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and earlier this year visited the site of the 2018 Parkland school shooting – in which 17 people died – and unveiled a new organisation to optimise the use of red flag laws.
“Our nation is being torn apart by the tragedy of it all and torn apart by the fear and trauma that results from gun violence,” she said in a September 2023 speech.
“President Biden and I believe in the second amendment, but we also know common sense solutions are at hand,” she added.
