(PITTSBURGH) — Vice President Kamala Harris is defining her economic views in a speech in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday as she tries to to close the gap between her and former President Donald Trump on who Americans better trust to handle the economy.
Harris planned to tell voters that “as a capitalist she understands the limitations of government” and that the government must “work in partnership with the private sector and entrepreneurs,” according to the senior official, who was granted anonymity to preview Harris’ speech. The official noted Harris would make clear “she is unafraid to hold bad actors accountable if she needs to.”
Harris was also expected to evoke former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal agenda brought America back from a steep economic downturn during the Great Depression, in her remarks, according to another senior campaign official.
The vice president was also expected to argue that her economic philosophy is “rooted in her middle-class upbringing” and contrast that with Trump’s “gilded path to wealth,” as part of a larger values argument, the senior official said.
“For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not those who build them. Not those who wire them. Not those who mop the floors,” Harris was prepared to say Wednesday.
In drawing that comparison, Harris planned to highlight the “pressures of making ends meet” that her mother experienced trying to balance a budget late at night at the kitchen table.
The remarks at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh, come as Harris and her advisers see an opening to erode Trump’s edge on the economy in voters’ eyes as many Americans get to know the vice president, a senior official said.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted after the ABC News presidential debate earlier this month found that the economy was the top issue for voters, with 91% saying it was an important issue for them. In that poll, voters trusted Trump to do a better job handling the economy than Harris by 7-point margin. A recent NBC News poll out Sunday found showed Trump led Harris in dealing with the economy by a 9-point spread.
Harris has made the economy and the cost of living a focal point of her campaign. In recent weeks, Harris has rolled out proposals to give first time homebuyers $25,000 down payment assistance for first time homebuyers, increasing the small businesses start up tax credit tenfold to $50,000, and a $6,000 child tax credit for the first year of a newborn’s life.
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