A CNN panel suggested on Tuesday that Kamala Harris's connections to the Biden administration were a "weakness" for her because she's the current vice president, as she continues to make price gouging and lowering the cost of housing a key part of her campaign.
"If there’s this price gouging going on that she’s talking about in the ad, my goodness, there is someone who’s in the White House right now who could be doing something about it," Wall Street Journal reporter Annie Linskey said, referring to a new Harris ad aimed at price gouging.
The panel discussed the ad, which said Harris would slash grocery prices by cracking down on price gouging, and President Biden's return to the campaign trail on Monday.
"The tricky walk that she has to walk is distancing herself a little bit from the president or saying that she’s going to solve some of the problems that Americans are feeling. But she’s also in power right now," she added.
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Democratic National Committee adviser Brad Woodhouse took aim at GOP criticisms of Harris' messaging and said her focus on price gouging spoke to her background as a prosecutor, adding that Harris wanted to take on "corporate grocery stores and speculators in the real estate market."
Woodhouse also insisted that Biden was key in getting the Democratic base to turn out for Harris. The president appeared alongside Harris at a Labor Day event in Pittsburgh.
CNN's Paula Reid said Harris' ties to Biden were a "weakness" for the Harris campaign because Americans are upset over the economy.
Erin Perinne, a former Trump campaign adviser, said it was an easy way for former President Trump to attack Harris.
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"This is Kamala Harris stopping progress. If she’s sitting in the White House, and she is there right now, why aren't they working to get things done? If you can deliver today, why wait until tomorrow? That’s ineffective leadership at best. And Republicans absolutely have every reason and ability to say you want to look at what direction the country is going in? It’s because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. You want to know why things are more expensive today? It’s because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris," Perinne said.
Linskey said part of the issue with Harris' focus on price gouging was that it "doesn't actually seem to be the problem," citing economists.
"Grocery prices have gone up and that is absolutely true. But this is sort of a solution in search of a problem. But it does poll very well. And it also gives Democrats a new villain," she said.
"When I hear price gouging, that’s where I say, look, this is not actually the root cause here of the increase in prices. There are many other issues that have contributed to the increase in prices," she added.
