Vice President Kamala Harris, in an attempt to move toward the center before she opposes former President Donald Trump in the November election, now supports money being spent on building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Harris told attendees at last week's Democratic National Convention that she would sign a border security bill negotiated earlier this year in the Senate.
That bill, worth $118 billion overall, included $20 billion for border security.
"How much longer will the mainstream media allow Kamala Harris to hide and use staff to speak on her behalf? It's DAY 37 of ZERO interviews and Kamala's anonymous campaign sources are now claiming she supports President Trump's border wall — this is a preposterous and false claim. Kamala's RECORD proves she is pro-open border. She called the wall 'un-American,' a 'waste of taxpayer money,' 'medieval,' and said it isn't going to 'stop' illegal immigration," Karoline Leavitt, Trump's national press secretary, said in a statement.
"As a senator, Kamala tried to block President Trump's construction of the border wall. As Border Czar, Kamala Harris halted construction of the border wall. Kamala's ACTIONS speak much louder than the WORDS of the anonymous staff she is cowering behind."
Harris' flip-flopping on the border wall aligns with other policy changes — including Medicare and fracking — to appeal to moderates and independent voters.
In February, Republicans in both the House and Senate voiced opposition to the $118 billion bill. The legislation also included aid to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan.
The deal was made after four months of negotiations between Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and the White House.
"It requires the Trump border wall," Lankford told Axios. "It is in the bill itself that it sets the standards that were set during the Trump administration: Here's where it will be built. Here's how it has to be built, the height, the type, everything during the Trump construction."
Lankford's office estimated the bill would spend $650 million on a wall, down from the $18 billion Trump requested in 2018, Axios reported.
Harris' team said the border proposal didn't include any new money to continue building the wall. It just extended the timeline to spend funds that had been appropriated during Trump's last year as president.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.