During a Univision-hosted town hall in Nevada on Thursday, Vice-President Kamala Harris fielded questions from undecided Hispanic voters in the key swing state on immigration and health care. But what might have been her most difficult challenge didn’t come until the end. For the final question, a voter asked the vice-president if she could name three virtues that Donald Trump has. (She couldn’t.)
“Thank you for the question,” Harris said with a laugh before first acknowledging what she doesn’t like about him.
“I know that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. And part of what pains me is the approach that, frankly, Donald Trump and some others have taken, which is to suggest that it’s us versus them, whoever that may be,” she said. “And having Americans point fingers at each other, using language that’s about belittling people and calling them names and meant to make them afraid and live in fear.
She continued, “I don’t think that’s healthy for our nation, and I don’t admire that, and, in fact, I’m quite critical of it coming from someone who wants to be president of the United States.”
When it came time to list some of the former president’s virtues, Harris took a moment to think and ultimately played it safe. “I think Donald Trump loves his family, and I think that’s very important. I think family is one of the most important things that we can prioritize,” she said.
Although the voter asked for three examples, the vice-president made it clear that nothing else came to mind. “I don’t really know him, to be honest with you. I only met him one time on the debate stage. I’d never met him before, so I don’t really have much more to offer you,” she said.
Harris’s response is reminiscent of one previously given by another Trump foe: former secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During her second debate with Trump in 2016, a voter asked if the two candidates could name something they respect about the other. Like Harris, Clinton also mentioned Trump’s family.
“Look, I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. I don’t agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that, and I think that’s something that, as a mother and a grandmother, is very important to me,” she said. “So I believe that this election has become, in part, so conflict oriented, so intense, because there’s a lot at stake. This is not an ordinary time, and this is not an ordinary election.”
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