Authors Note: "This is an essay topic I had to write about for college. Please don't take any of this to heart. It's my opinion and I'm not trying to make others think the same way."
Kamala Harris is not suitable to be the U.S. president. Harris doesn’t have a good reputation nor a vision for the future of America. Also, Harris lacks composure.
First, Harris doesn’t have a good reputation amongst her former colleagues. One former staff member states, “‘With Kamala you have to put up a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism and also her own lack of confidence. So, you’re constantly sort of propping up a bully and it’s not really clear why,’” (Dorman). The former staff member says that working with Harris was hard and that it feels like they were constantly bullied by her. Is this really who people are voting for president? Another staff member, Gil Duran says, “‘Who are the next talented people you’re going to bring in and burn through them, have (them) pretend they’re retiring for positive reasons…’” (Dorman). Duran is saying that Harris will push her staff members to the point that they have to retire. Then, they must lie and say that it’s for positive reasons. In David Brooks article, it says, “The Substack newsletter Open the Books ran the number and calculated that as of March 31 over 90 percent of the staff she had at the beginning of her vice-president term had left,” (Brooks). Harris would not be a good fit to be the U.S. president because of how cruel her staff members claim her to be.
Another example of Kamala Harris not being fit to be president is her lack of vision. The article by David Brooks says, “‘It looked as if she didn’t know where to plant her feet. That she wasn’t sort of grounded, that she didn’t know exactly who she was,’” (Brooks). In an interview with Elaina Plott Calabro of The Atlantic, she states that because of Harris’ lack of confidence, she doesn’t have a good vision for the future of America. A president should have confidence in their decisions. Harris isn’t reliable because if faced with a problem, she wouldn’t know how to handle it. Another article says, “Her plan would do nothing to change the factors that drive up food prices - supply chain changes, geopolitical conflicts and high energy costs to name a few - and it’s unclear that a president would be able to do much, if anything…” (Chen). The article is explaining how Harris wants to decrease the price of food, however her plans of fixing the issue are not solid and may not even be possible. Her lack of a vision and knowledge in this situation is quite worrisome.
Lastly, Harris lacks composure. In David Brooks’ article, he writes, “NBC’s Lester Holt asked her if she would visit the U.S.-Mexico border. She replied, ‘At some point, you know, I- we are going to the border. We’ve been to the border…” (Brooks). When asked a question about visiting the border, Harris stumbles over her words. It turns out that Kamala Harris didn’t visit the border. Her lack of composure when asked a difficult question can cause problems in the future. Another example of Harris Lacking composure was during one of her speeches. In the article by Domenico Montanaro, it says, “‘We’re not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut social security and Medicare,’” (Montanaro). In Harris’ speech, she claims that Donald Trump tried to cut social security and Medicare, however Trump never claimed he wanted to do such a thing. Harris also says in the same speech, “‘He doesn’t actually fight for the middle class. Instead, he fights for himself and his billionaire friends. And he will give them another round of tax breaks that will add up to $5 trillion to the national debt,’” (Montanaro). The 2017 tax cuts were skewed more for the wealthy, however it overall cut taxes for everyone. What Harris is saying about Donald Trump is a bit of an exaggeration. In addition, Harris also states, ‘’With this election, we finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act,’” (Montanaro). This isn’t something a president can even control. Harris needs Congress in this process, and her becoming president doesn’t necessarily mean it would happen. It seems like Harris is making things up in order to give herself more attention. Someone who spouts fake information shouldn’t run as president.
However, some people believe that Kamala Harris can help raise the U.S. economy. The claim that was made was, “‘He froze in the face of the COVID crisis. He drove our economy into the ground,’” (Horton). The claim is made against Donald Trump, saying that because of him, the U.S. economy declined during the pandemic. This case happened to most countries, not just the U.S. Under Trump, the economy bounced back. Trump created a series of measures in order to help the economy to recover. So, in this case, Kamala Harris is once again making false claims in order to make herself look good.
Kamala Harris will not make a good U.S. president. Harris doesn’t have a good reputation or a good vision for the future of the U.S. She lacks composure when faced with difficult questions she’s not sure how to answer. America needs a president who is confident, calm, has a good vision, and is liked amongst their peers. Kamala Harris is mediocre overall.
Works Cited
Brooks, David. “The Kamala Harris Report Card.” The New York Times. Published July 26, 2024. Accessed September 12, 2024. The Kamala Harris Report Card by David Brooks: WRT-101-06: Critical Writing (lemoyne.edu)
Chen, Lanhee J. “Opinion: This Could be Kamala Harris’ Achilles’ Heel With Crucial Undecided Voters.” Los Angeles Times. Published September 4, 2024. Accessed September 12, 2024. Opinion: For undecideds, will this be Kamala Harris' Achilles' heel? - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
Dorman, John L. “A Former Kamala Harris Staffer Says Aides Have to Endure ‘A Constant Amount of Soul-Destroying Criticism:’ Report.” Business Insider. Published December 5, 2021. Accessed September 12, 2024. Ex-Harris Staffer Says She Gives 'Soul-Destroying Criticism': Report - Business Insider
Fayyad, Abdallah and Christian Paz. “Why Does Kamala Harris Want to be President?” Vox. Published July 24, 2024. Accessed September 12, 2024. What would a Kamala Harris presidency look like? | Vox
Horton, Jake. “Six Kamala Harris Claims Fact-Checked.” BBC. Published August 20, 2024. Accessed September 21, 2021.Fact-checking six of Kamala Harris's campaign claims (bbc.com)
Montanaro, Domenico. “12 Misleading or Lacking-in-Context Claims From Harris’ DNC Speech.” NPR. Published August 25, 2024. Accessed September 12, 2024. 12 misleading or lacking-in-context claims from Harris’ DNC speech : NPR
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aro). This isn’t something a president can even control. Harris needs Congress in this process, and her becoming president doesn’t necessarily mean it would happen. It seems like Harris is making things up in order to give herself more attention. Someone who spouts fake information shouldn’t run as president.
