The New York Times drew hoots on the right by describing Democratic veep pick Kamala Harris as a “pragmatic moderate,” even though her Senate voting record says otherwise.
The GovTrack 2018 report card ranked the California Democrat 96th out of 99 senators on a scale of most conservative to most liberal, placing her to the left of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who ranked 87th, and slightly to the right of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who placed 98th.
The GovTrack ranker was no outlier. Progressive Punch listed her as the fifth most progressive senator, with a lifetime “crucial votes” score of 96.76 out of 100, ahead of Mr. Sanders, who scored 94.93 and ranked tenth.
On her “overall record,” she ranked fifth with a score of 97.18, still to the left of Mr. Sanders, who placed eighth, but behind Ms. Warren, who placed second with a score of 98.53.
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, announced Tuesday that he had selected Ms. Harris as his running mate.
The New York Times announced her selection by tweeting: “Sen. Kamala Harris of California is Joe Biden’s pick for vice president. A pragmatic moderate, she is the first Black woman on a major party ticket.”
Among those who disputed the newspaper’s description was Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, who tweeted, “Pragmatic moderate?”
“Kamala Harris supports Medicare for All and she laughed at the idea that the Constitution would prevent her from confiscating guns,” said Mr. Cotton. “More fake news from the New York Times.”
The conservative Media Research Center’s Newsbusters called her “the most liberal vice presidential nominee ever to be nominated,” noting that the American Conservative Union gave her a lifetime rating of 3.03 out of 100. Her 2019 score was 0.
The “pragmatic moderate” claim is “just demonstrably false and absurd,” tweeted MRC associate editor Scott Whitlock.
The New York Times IS LYING to You: Calls Harris a ’Pragmatic Moderate’ https://t.co/POUZRGL1KK pic.twitter.com/HXB6huLaTh
— Scott Whitlock (@ScottJW) August 11, 2020
Pragmatic moderate?
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) August 11, 2020
Kamala Harris supports Medicare for All and she laughed at the idea that the Constitution would prevent her from confiscating guns.
More fake news from the New York Times. https://t.co/AXsMs8HgyF
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