Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday claimed Donald Trump will try to gut the First and Second Amendments if elected — even though she herself has a record of cracking down on free speech and backing gun restrictions.
“When he says he wants to terminate the Constitution of the United States? You know what that would mean? In the Constitution of the United States is your Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure, your Fifth Amendment right [to due process], your Sixth Amendment right to an attorney. Right?” Harris said in an interview with the Club Shay Shay podcast.
“The First Amendment [right to free speech], the Second Amendment [right to bear arms],” the Democratic nominee continued, specifically noting that she is “in favor” of the Second Amendment.
“He wants to terminate the Constitution of the United States,” Harris said.
The Democratic vice president has long argued the GOP former president would fundamentally change the American Constitution but had not previously specifically claimed he would go after the First and Second Amendments, especially as many in her party want to reform gun rights.
US presidents can not change the Constitution, as the amendment powers rest with Congress. What a president could do is issue executive orders that pertain to how the law is interpreted, but even those orders would have to be constitutionally sound.
Harris has been painting herself as the protector of the Constitution and frequently mentioned that she is a gun owner — but her career in San Francisco says otherwise.
As district attorney in 2006, she supported Proposition H, which would have banned residents from transferring or selling handguns.
The Harris/Biden administration was also involved in working with social-media platforms to crack down on free speech during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the White House “pressured” the company to “censor” some content about the pandemic.
Harris also called on Twitter to suspend Trump’s account in 2019 and said she wanted to keep social-media platforms “accountable” for hateful posts.
“Kamala just claimed that President Trump will take away the 1st amendment and 2nd amendment,” the Trump “War Room” account on X wrote Monday. “Her administration censored people who criticized their covid policies — She is on camera multiple times saying she wants gun confiscation. What a joke.”
Trump’s campaign website states he would oppose the federal government from censoring Americans, and the former president has long complained social-media companies from banning him form their platforms.
“We will ban the Federal Government from colluding with anyone to censor Lawful Speech, defund institutions engaged in censorship, and hold accountable all bureaucrats involved with illegal censoring. We will protect Free Speech online,” his Agenda 47 platform states.
The word “gun” is not mentioned in Trump’s official platform on his website, but the former president has spoken out in favor of reducing restrictions on conceal carry laws and has emphasized the right for Americans to arm themselves.