KAMALA Harris and her team have been “asleep at the wheel” and their immigration tactics could lose them the election, an ex-congressman has warned.
Joe Walsh is among a minority of black sheep Republicans backing the Vice President‘s race for the White House – but fears her “elitist” party may have blown her chances.
GettyKamala Harris and her team have fallen asleep at the wheel on a number of issues, an ex-congressman has said[/caption]
AFPJoe Walsh believes the Democrats have become an ‘elite, arrogant party’ – and it could be costly[/caption]
“Harris’ team tried to protect her from the beginning,” Walsh, behind the Republicans for Harris effort, told The U.S. Sun.
“Maybe some of her people thought she could ride this joyful vibe to the White House.
“But that’s not the case.”
Walsh believes that if votes are cast on the idea of “where does Kamala stand on issues” she “could lose”.
Similarly, if the election revolves around crunch-time topics like “immigration or the economy” she may have blown her shot.
“The Harris campaign knew what they were getting into – and they have a lot going against them,” Walsh explained.
“Immigration is a huge issue and the Biden-Harris administration really has been asleep at the wheel.
“They’ve ignored the issue of immigration for a long time.”
Harris has vowed to increase the number of asylum officers, immigration judges and immigration detention beds if she becomes president.
She also plans to push a bill through Congress to maintain order at the border, while bringing in more Border Patrol agents to keep an eye on those illegally entering the US.
Donald Trump, however, is adamant his rival hasn’t done enough, dubbing her the “border czar” and calling for an instant crackdown on immigration.
“If the election is about immigration, the economy, crime, it could go either way,” Walsh said.
“Inflation is way down from where it was before, but the Biden-Harris administration did a lousy job from the beginning in communicating this.”
Another area the former congressman believes Harris’ team has fallen short is how they’ve sold the VP to the public.
She “should have defined herself instead of trying to let Trump define her,” Walsh said.
“Trump is an idiot that can never be underestimated.
“If he had a decent debate and talk about immigration, he’d be ahead – but because he’s such an idiot, he talked about Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs.
“Because he’s so bad, he’s keeping this thing close.”
GettyImmigrants wait to be transported and processed by U.S. Border Patrol officers at the U.S.-Mexico border on May 12, 2023 in El Paso, Texas[/caption]
Trump famously repeated debunked myths in September that claimed immigrants were eating cats and dogs.
But according to Walsh, he has nothing to prove”.
“Biden had a lot to prove,” Walsh said.
“He had to prove he wasn’t too old, he failed. Harris has had something to prove that she’s not too far left and can do this job.
“Donald Trump hasn’t had anything to prove. Nothing matters to him because everybody knows every inch of him.”
He added, “Democrats have become an elite, arrogant party and it could be costly.
“Biden knew it – he was too old to address it. Harris knows it.”
Polls this morning showed Harris leading over Trump by just 0.7 per cent – a tiny margin in keeping with expert analysis that it’s the closest election seen in decades.
Americans have just ours left to cast their votes.
AFPAsylum seekers rush to be processed by border patrol agents at an improvised camp near the US-Mexico border in eastern Jacumba, California, on February 2, 2024[/caption]
How do the US presidential elections work?
BY Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
The Democratic and Republican parties nominate their candidates with a series of votes – called state primaries and caucuses – in the run up to the election in November, held every four years.
This gives members the opportunity to choose who they want to lead the party into an election – this year, Donald Trump and following Biden’s resignation, Kamala Harris.
There are also some independent candidates running for president – arguably the most well-known was Robert F Kennedy Jr who pulled out in August and endorsed Trump.
In US elections the winner is not the candidate who gets the most votes across the country.
Instead Trump and Harris will compete to win smaller contests held in each of the 50 states.
Many of the states often vote the same way – but seven of them – Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona – tend to go in either direction.
Each state has a number of electoral college votes – partly based on population sizes – with a total of 538 across the country up for grabs.
The winner is the candidate that gets 270 or more, marking a majority in the electoral college.
All but two of the US’ 50 states – Maine and Nebraska – have a winner-takes-all rule.
Meaning whichever candidate gets the highest number of votes wins all of the state’s electoral college votes.
In 2016 Hillary Clinton won more votes nationally than Donald Trump – but she still lost the election because of electoral college votes.
The candidate who will win this election is the one who secures 270 or more college ballots.
Usually the winner is declared on the night, but it can take days to finalise the result.
In 2020 Joe Biden wasn’t officially announced as the president-elect until November 7.
The new president will be sworn into office in January on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington DC.
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