OPINION:
Former President Donald Trump should ask Vice President Kamala Harris these questions at the upcoming debate:
Do you still support “Bidenomics”? The typical family is paying nearly $900 more per month than in January 2021, when President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office, to live at approximately the same level they were at the time. Overall, prices are up 20%. Gas is up about $1.25 per gallon in Wisconsin from four years ago. Housing is up nearly 30%. If you still support Bidenomics, how much worse will it get if we have four more years of it?
Why are you campaigning on a promise to lower prices on Day One of your presidency if you and the president can take action right now? You are the vice president of the United States. Lower taxes, less government spending, reductions in bureaucratic red tape and increased domestic energy production helped lower prices in the four years before you were in office. Why would voters not want a new president who would help lower prices again? And why would they believe that you can do it when you haven’t done so in your more than three and a half years in office?
Why are the problems with border security worse than they were four years ago? Mr. Biden appointed you as the point person on illegal immigration. Why did the Biden-Harris administration undo so many of the positive reforms enacted by the prior administration that slowed down illegal border crossing?
Why did you oppose the construction of a wall along the southern border but now support it? When you ran for president, you called construction of the wall a “medieval vanity project.” In April 2017, you said that it was a “stupid use of money” and pledged to “block any funding for it.” And in February 2020, you wrote on social media that Mr. Trump’s border wall was a “complete waste of money and won’t make us any safer.” It sounds like the change in your position is based more on the polling in battleground states such as Arizona and Nevada than a shift in policy positions.
Do you still support the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan? You said that you were the last one in the room with Mr. Biden when the decision was made that ultimately led to the death of 13 American service members.
Why did you support a ban on fracking? In 2020, you said, “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.” Now that Pennsylvania is a key state, you seem to be changing your position on this important issue. Greater energy production at home helped us keep prices reasonable during our term in office. Fuel costs have increased during the Biden-Harris administration.
Do you believe that killing an unborn baby just before birth should be legal? What, if any, laws would you support that would protect the life of an unborn baby who can feel pain? Do you believe it should be legal for someone to kill a baby hours after he or she is born? If not, why should it be legal hours before it is born?
Why do you support forcing us all to drive expensive electric vehicles? In the Senate, you were one of five original co-sponsors of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act of 2019. That bill would require automobile manufacturers to sell only zero-emission cars and trucks by 2040. This would put the price of a vehicle out of reach of the typical American.
Then Mr. Trump should turn to the camera and ask the American people this simple question: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago before COVID?” He should continue: “The answer for most Americans will be an overwhelming no. Prices are up, the border is less secure and many have real public safety concerns. All of that, and more, can get much better if we elect a true change candidate.
“Many of you have supported me in the past. For that, I am thankful. Others have not. You may not like my style or some of my posts on social media. Electing a president, however, is not a popularity contest. It is about electing a leader who will enact policies to protect our country and citizens.”
”Some of my critics claim that I will do outrageous things in the next four years. Why would I not have done them during my first term if that were true? They are purely scare tactics meant to distract you from the truth that life was better for most Americans when I was in office than it has been since Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris took office. That is why I ask for your vote — to make America great again!”
• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019.
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