Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, refused to divulge whether she voted in favor of a proposal that aims to crack down on crime in her home state of California just a couple days out from Election Day.
During an exchange with reporters in Detroit on Sunday, Harris said she had just filled out her mail-in ballot. When asked how she voted on Proposition 36, Harris ducked the question, saying: “I am not gonna talk about the vote on that because, honestly, it’s the Sunday before the election and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it.”
.@dsupervilleap — “How did you vote on Prop 36?”
Kamala Harris: “I’m not going to talk about the vote on that because honestly it’s the Sunday before the election and I don’t intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it.” pic.twitter.com/PaOvZp0H1N
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) November 3, 2024
Prop 36 would increase penalties for some drug and theft crimes, rolling back a successful 2014 measure — Proposition 47 — that downgraded offenses in these same areas. A summary posted online says Prop 36 would allow “felony charges for possessing certain drugs and for thefts under $950, if defendant has two prior drug or theft convictions.”
Critics have knocked Democrats, including Harris, over Prop 47 while highlighting California’s struggles with retail theft, homelessness, drug use, and violent crime in recent years. However, Semafor reported Harris did not take a stance on Prop 47 a decade ago, noting how there were “some procedural reasons” while she was serving as California’s attorney general.
Harris faced blowback on social media due to the VP staying mum on whether she voted for Prop 36.
It “reminds me of the gaslighting faced by many who have chosen to vote Unity in 2024,” said Nicole Shanahan, a Bay Area lawyer who served as former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vice presidential running mate before they dropped out and rallied behind former President Donald Trump. “REAL science and REAL food, require REAL free speech and REAL debate. Anything else is propaganda.”
Libs of TikTok, a popular account run by Chaya Raichik, posted a video of a smash-and-grab and said: “Kamala won’t say if she supports penalties for these people or not. If she wanted to crack down on crime, why wouldn’t she say that? She didn’t answer because we all know she supports this lawlessness. Soft-on-crime Kamala will destroy your city.”
Kamala won’t say if she supports penalties for these people or not. If she wanted to crack down on crime, why wouldn’t she say that? She didn’t answer because we all know she supports this lawlessness.
Soft-on-crime Kamala will destroy your city.
pic.twitter.com/2KPzGPAGyM https://t.co/um2B8MbgTE— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 3, 2024
The GOP’s X account said: “Kamala: I don’t intend to tell you where I stand on policy before an election.”
