Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech Friday night for her first campaign trip to the border was welcomed as a homerun by a Democratic strategist who said it “is why Kamala Harris is going to win this election on November 5.”
“That thing was off the charts extraordinary,” said Fernand Amandi, a Democratic pollster and strategist. “She gave a serious speech that didn’t sound like open borders advocacy. She said ‘I’m a responsible leader. I’m going to solve this problem.'”
Harris' speech in the border town of Douglas, Arizona, aired live on the three major cable news networks and showed how the Democratic nominee is “growing by leaps and bounds,” according to Amandi.
“Just a terrific speech by Kamala Harris,” he told MSNBC host Chris Hayes on his show "All In."
Journalist Maria Hinojosa, the founder and CEO of Futuro Media Group, pushed back on Amandi’s enthusiastic reaction by hitting Harris for "painting all immigrants as criminals," and not recognizing that crime and fentanyl overdoses have dropped.
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“Why is she not saying it’s time to turn the page on that rhetoric. She herself needs to turn the page on that rhetoric,” Hinojosa said before adding that she would “give her a few points” for portions of her speech.
“You know I’m highly critical because our country should be doing better,” Hinojosa said.
Amandi concluded the segment by trying to convince Hinojosa that Harris was focusing on immigration issues “because it’s working.”
“She's taken Donald Trump’s plus 35 on this issue of immigration sliced it down to only a 14 point lead, after this speech if it resonates, it’s going to get into the low single-digits,” Amandi said.
“I don't think you could have asked for a better, more thoughtful, more sober and serious speech compared to the unseriousness and frankly the cruelty of what the trump campaign is offering."
Watch the clip below or at this link.