Democrats rushed to defend Kamala Harris’s newly unveiled economic plans on Sunday, amid criticism that they amounted to gimmicks that would fail to tackle inflation.
The Democratic presidential candidate outlined her economic vision at an event in North Carolina on Friday, pledging to ban price gouging and offer new tax relief for families and homebuyers. But some of the measures met a cool response from economists and habitual allies of the Democrats, complicating the vice-president’s bid to win voters’ trust on the economy and cost of living issues.
An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll taken last week and released on Sunday showed Harris enjoying a six-point lead over former president Donald Trump. But it put Trump nine points ahead when it came to who voters trusted on the economy and inflation. This was at odds with the FT Michigan Ross poll conducted earlier in the month, which showed that more Americans trusted Harris to handle the economy.