During an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, GOP nominee Donald Trump was asked about his previous remarks suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris is a communist. Trump responded by criticizing her proposed policies, particularly her stance on price controls.
Harris has suggested implementing price controls on goods like groceries, which typically have narrow profit margins of 1-3 percent. She has stated that, if elected president, she would enforce a nationwide ban on what she calls “price gouging.”
In the interview, Trump commented, “I don’t know that there’ll be another election, and it’s going to be a communist country, or close.” Fridman challenged this claim, noting that many listeners, including himself, don’t view Harris as a “full-blown communist.”
Trump countered, saying, “Well, she’s a Marxist.” Fridman pointed out that Harris’ father was a Marxist and suggested that her policies lean more towards “democratic socialism.”
Fridman elaborated that some believe Harris’ policy proposals, like price controls on groceries, are campaign rhetoric unlikely to be implemented. He added, “Groceries are too expensive; we need them cheaper, so let’s talk about price controls. And that’s never going to come to reality.”
Trump disagreed, stating, “It could come to reality. Look, I mean, she came out with price controls. It’s been tried 121 different times in different places over the years, and it’s never worked once. It leads to communism. It leads to socialism. It leads to having no food on the shelves. And it leads to tremendous inflation.”
Following the exchange, Jack Posobiec, senior editor of Human Events, commented, “Lex is committing the same flaw that most Russians did in 1917, ‘That could never actually happen.’”