The upcoming presidential debate will be “one of the most consequential” in history as voters will get a chance to hear Vice President Kamala Harris say what she believes after a series of flip-flops, Dr. Ben Carson said on Sunday.
Carson, who served as secretary of housing and urban development under former President Donald Trump, appeared on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” and shared his steep expectations for the debate set to take place Tuesday evening on ABC. It will be the second debate of the 2024 general election cycle, following one in June that featured Trump and President Joe Biden. After Biden’s fumbling performance sparked a crisis of confidence among his allies, he stepped aside under pressure.
“I think it’s going to be one of the most consequential debates ever, because people will finally get a chance to hear from Kamala Harris what she believes,” Carson said. “And all this business about flip-flopping, you have to wonder if she has really flipped-flopped, because she said that her values have not changed. So what kind of values are we talking about? Values that, as the DA in San Francisco, led to a policy where people can go into stores and take $900 worth of stuff with little or no consequences, or values that lead to not deporting drug dealers who are resulting in the death of American citizens?”
He added, “Or the kind of values that allow you to kill babies right up until the time of birth, and maybe even beyond that time, opposing legislation that would save babies that survive abortion attempts? You have to wonder about that — values that need you to mandate what kind of car people should drive, what kind of stoves they should have, as opposed to letting free market forces — so what you’re going to see in the debate is Donald Trump running on his past policies and Kamala Harris running away from her past policies. So it should make for a very, very interesting evening.”
Axios reported last week that Harris has “shifted views or her current position is unknown” across nine areas, including on fracking, reparations, building a wall along the southwest border, and Medicare for All. Harris recently insisted on CNN, during her first and only major TV interview since embarking on her own campaign, that her “values have not changed” despite the flip-flops. Polls have shown a very close race, with a fresh New York Times/Siena survey showing Harris’ convention “bounce” dissipating ahead of her first debate against Trump.
Jason Chaffetz, a former Republican congressman from Utah who was filling in as guest host on “Futures,” responded to Carson, “Yes, you kind of wonder, is Kamala Harris going to debate Kamala Harris? I mean, because her policies on the core issues, major flip-flops. And one of those things that I think is going to be at the forefront of a lot of people’s mind has to do with — and you’re a doctor — Medicare For All. Is she really, truly supporting the notion that she would get rid of private insurance for more than 100 million Americans, and make sure that it’s a government-run health care system? Because that’s what she has advocated for.”
In reply, Carson said, “Well, she has advocated that in the past. Of course, she will probably try to run away from it. Interestingly enough, those who are students of history know that Vladimir Lenin said that socialized medicine is the linchpin for socialism. This is the way that you bring it in. When you have control of people’s health, you have control of them. And we spend an enormous amount of money on health care in this country, more than any other country, $13,100 per capita per year.”
Carson went on, “Can you imagine what you could do with that money in an efficient system, an efficient system that used health care savings accounts or something of that nature, where there was real accountability and transparency? Those are the kinds of things that obviously need to be talked about and explored to a much greater degree than we are now. But socialized medicine has only led to much poorer distribution of medicine everywhere it has been tried. And the same thing would happen in this country as well.”
At the end of the interview, Chaffetz noted how Carson has experience on the debate stage, where he faced Trump and others during the 2016 Republican primary contest and asked Carson to give his “final guess” on what will happen Tuesday night.
“I think Kamala Harris is going to try to get under Donald Trump’s skin,” Carson said. “That’s what the preparation is all about. How do you get under his skin? Also, she needs to be told what her policies are, because she doesn’t really know what they are. Nobody else does either. Donald Trump doesn’t have to prep, because the truth is always the truth. You don’t have to try to figure out what things will resonate with people. You just say who you are. He’s very transparent. And I think the people will appreciate that. So it’s going to be a widely watched debate. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
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