Kamala Harris Takes Shot At Trump’s ‘Small Rallies’ While Answering Union Support Question In MSNBC Interview

Vice President Kamala Harris took a shot at former President Donald Trump’s rallies as MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle asked about the National Teamsters Union and labor support peeling off to Trump.

Last week, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien issued a statement announcing the union would not be endorsing a candidate (a raft of state and local Teamsters groups did endorse Harris).

During an exclusive interview with Ruhle on Wednesday night’s special edition of MSNBC’s All In, Harris poked a sore spot for Trump — their respective crowd sizes — as she chalked up the union gap to promises she says Trump made and broke:

RUHLE: In 2016, Donald Trump connected with unions. He saw them. He — there was an emotional connection. But what he didn’t do was deliver policy.

In the last four years, we have seen huge wins in this country for unions, but not all unions have gotten behind you. I want to understand. When the Teamsters decided not to endorse you, what was their reasoning? What are they looking for?

HARRIS: Well, let me go back to our just previous conversation. I’m very proud to have the endorsement of the steelworkers and almost every other major union in America, because I stand by workers and I stand by the importance of being able to join a union and to understand the benefit and the value of unions.

And I understand the importance of investing in new industries and working actively with the private sector to grow our economy.

RUHLE: But I’m asking, because there’s this idea, we want something more from her. What is it?

HARRIS: Well, here’s the thing that — back to your point about previous election cycles.

Donald Trump made a whole lot of promises that he did not meet and, one would argue, broke. Look at Lordstown. He said he was going to…

RUHLE: Don’t sell your homes.

HARRIS: Yes, don’t sell your homes.

And what happened? It shut down. Outsourcing under Donald Trump. His policies that are about putting tens to hundreds of percent tariffs.

RUHLE: John Deere.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

So, part of the challenge — and I don’t disagree that it’s a challenge,got to earn the vote of everybody — is reminding people of fact, regardless of what somebody says in a small rally somewhere. And I think that’s really important. And that’s part of what I’m doing in this campaign, is to remind people, just like here in Pittsburgh, of the reality of who has stood with union labor, who stands for American manufacturing, who stands for American jobs.

RUHLE: Can I ask you about tariffs?

Because you just mentioned it. It’s not just with one company. Donald Trump’s sort of big idea is this broad-based tariffs across the board. You and many others have said that would be, not only disastrous, but it would be a direct tax on the American consumer.

HARRIS: It would be a sales tax on the American people that — the independent economists have already measured this by his — the sales tax of doing a 20 percent tariffs on all imports that he has described, would be a 20 percent sales tax, in essence, on basic necessities for the average American worker, average American family, totaling almost $4,000 a year.

That is no small matter. Here in Pittsburgh, when I’m talking to a group of folks who work here, who live here, and when they hear it might be $4,000 more a year for them, look, people can’t afford that.

RUHLE: But tariffs aren’t unique to President Trump. President Biden has tariffs in place. He’s actually looking to potentially implement more. Where do you come out on, is there a good tariff, a bad tariff?

HARRIS: Well, part of it is, you don’t just throw around the idea of just tariffs across the board. And that’s part of the problem with Donald Trump.

I — frankly, I’m going to — and I say this in all sincerity. He’s just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues. And one must be serious and have a plan, and a real plan, that’s not just about some talking point ending in an exclamation at a political rally, but actually putting the thought into, what will be the return on the investment, what will be the economic impact on everyday people?

And when you look at my plans, you will see what those benefits will be, $25,000 down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. You know what that means? Then you’re creating the ability of that working person to build intergenerational wealth.

Doing the work of a $6,000 child tax credit, doing the work of a $50,000 tax deduction for first-time small businesses, start-ups, because, right now…

RUHLE: That’s a real plan.

HARRIS: It’s a real plan, because, right now — and, again, it’s about paying attention to the detail and being serious about it.

I’m serious about my enthusiasm and my — for small businesses and my belief in what they will do as part of America’s economic engine.

Watch above via MSNBC’s All In.