Vice President Kamala Harris told Telemundo on Tuesday that she is a “pragmatic capitalist” who wants to support Latino entrepreneurs, countering former President Donald Trump’s attempts to portray her as a Marxist.
“I am a capitalist. I am a pragmatic capitalist,” Harris said in the interview at the vice president’s official residence in the Naval Observatory in Washington. “I believe that we need a new generation of leadership in America that actively works with the private sector to build up the new industries of America, to build up small-business owners, to allow us to increase home ownership.”
Republicans have for years tried to convince Hispanic voters, many of whom fled repressive countries or are descended from people who did, that Democrats are secret socialists or communists.
In his rally speeches and fundraising emails, Trump frequently refers to Harris as “Comrade Kamala” and a “Marxist,” and he has shared a fake image on social media of someone resembling Harris speaking at a communist event.
Julio Vaqueiro, an anchor on the Spanish-language network Telemundo, which shares a parent company with NBC News, asked how Harris defined herself ideologically in the face of such attacks.
Harris also made a direct appeal to Latino men’s wallets.
“I am very aware how it would affect Latino men,” she said of her economic agenda. “I know that Latino men often have a more difficult time having access to the big loans from the big banks because of relationships, because of things that are not necessarily grounded in their qualifications. So I’m focused on what we can do to bring more capital to community banks that will understand the community and being able to give those kinds of loans.”
Men, and especially young men of color, have become one of the most hotly contested demographic groups this election, as Trump makes unexpected inroads with the Democratic-leaning group.
Harris also highlighted her plan to offer $25,000 of down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers and said that while it would benefit all Americans, “I am also aware of the specific impact on the Latino community.”
Just two weeks before the Nov. 5 election, polls show an exceedingly close race, with Harris and Trump within the margin of error of each other in polls of battleground states and nationally.
