If Americans really believe in the need to be strong on improving security at the border and reducing illegal immigration, the idea that Vice President Kamala Harris is the candidate for you "is really not fully thinking this through," said former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Newsmax.
"If you believe that Vice President Harris is going to be aggressive and rigorous in border security and cracking down on illegal immigration, I think you're probably naive. She has flipped on this issue," Pawlenty said Friday during an appearance on "Newsline."
"And by the way, she refuses to answer the question, 'Do you still support decriminalizing illegal immigration?' She's been asked that several times. She ducks every time. And of course, the mainstream media doesn't seem to follow up or present her to that, but to your viewers and to others, if you really believe in the need to be strong on improving security at the border and reducing illegal immigration, you know, the idea that she's the candidate for you is really, really not fully thinking this through. She is not."
Harris' hypocrisy isn't specific to immigration, added Pawlenty.
She earlier this week said she and her running mate Tim Walz are both gun owners and stated during an interview with Oprah: "If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot."
"I probably should not have said that. But my staff will deal with that later," Harris said, laughing.
Pawlenty said the way she came across "underscores what a lot of her campaign has been so far, which is the so-called feels or vibes and not a lot of substance.
"And when substance is asked of her, oftentimes she underwhelms. It's interesting in that question, she said if someone enters her house, she would shoot them. But does she support the right for me and you and your viewers to be able to do that by carrying a gun if somebody with a knife or a weapon approaches us in a parking ramp or an alley, and in places, many places all over this country, they don't allow you to do that, concealed carry, legally carry a gun.
"So, she limits it to a house. So, I think an interesting follow up question would be, do you support that same right when your life is threatened somewhere else?" he added.
Harris, along with most of her party, has pushed for more gun safety legislation to curb the high rate of gun deaths and injuries in the U.S.
Republicans blocking this legislation have argued that Democrats want to seize Americans' guns and overturn the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that gives Americans the right to "bear arms."
Harris has called for implementing universal background checks and expanding red flag laws to take away guns from people who are deemed dangerous or unstable. She also wants to ban so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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