This year's presidential race is a genuine contest of ideas between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump — with clear differences on taxes, abortion, immigration, global alliances, climate change and democracy itself.
Since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, Harris has pledged to chart a new way forward even as she has embraced many of his ideas. She wants middle class tax cuts, tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations, a restoration of abortion rights and a government that aggressively addresses climate change, among other stances.
Seeking a return to the White House, Trump wants to accomplish much of what he couldn't do during a term that was sidetracked by the global pandemic. The Republican wants the extension and expansion of his 2017 tax cuts, a massive increase in tariffs, more support for fossil fuels and a greater concentration of government power in the White House.
The two candidates have spelled out their ideas in speeches, advertisements and other venues. Many of their proposals lack specifics, making it difficult to judge exactly how they would translate their intentions into law or pay for them. While the candidates agree on not taxing workers' tips, the outcome in November could drastically change the tax code, America's support for Ukraine, abortion access and the commitments made to limit the damage caused by climate change.
Here's where each candidate stands on 10 top issues:
Abortion
HARRIS: The Vice President has called on Congress to pass legislation guaranteeing in federal law abortion access, a right that stood for nearly 50 years before being overturned by the Supreme Court. Like Biden, Harris has criticized bans on abortion in Republican-controlled states and promised as President to block any potential nationwide ban should one clear a future GOP-run Congress. Harris was the Democrats' most visible champion of abortion rights even while Biden was still in the race. She has promoted the administration's efforts short of federal law — including steps to protect women who travel to access the procedure and limit how law enforcement collects medical records.
TRUMP: The former President often brags about appointing the Supreme Court Justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. After dodging questions about when in pregnancy he believes the procedure should be restricted, Trump announced last spring that decisions on access and cutoffs should be left to the states. He has said he would not sign a national abortion ban into law if one landed on his desk and recently said he would not try to block access to abortion medication. He told Time magazine that it should also be left up to states to determine whether to prosecute women for abortions or to monitor their pregnancies. He has also said that, if he wins, he wants to make IVF treatment free for women.
Climate/Energy
HARRIS: As a senator from California, the Vice President was an early sponsor of the Green New Deal, a sweeping series of proposals meant to swiftly move the U.S. to fully green energy that is championed by the Democratic Party's most progressive wing. Harris also said during her short-lived 2020 presidential campaign that she opposed offshore drilling for oil and hydraulic fracturing. But during her three and a half years as Vice President, Harris has adopted more moderate positions, focusing instead on implementing the climate provisions of the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act. That provided nearly $375 billion for things like financial incentives for electric cars and clean energy projects. The Biden administration has also enlisted more than 20,000 young people in a national "Climate Corps," a Peace Corps-like program to promote conservation through tasks such as weatherizing homes and repairing wetlands. Despite that, it's unlikely that the U.S. will be on track to meet Biden's goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 — a benchmark that Harris hasn't talked about in the early part of her own White House bid.
TRUMP: His mantra for one of his top policy priorities: "DRILL, BABY, DRILL." Trump, who in the past cast climate change as a "hoax" and harbors a particular disdain for wind power, says it's his goal for the U.S. to have the cheapest energy and electricity in the world and has claimed he can cut prices in half within a year of his potential return to office. He'd increase oil drilling on public lands, offer tax breaks to oil, gas and coal producers, speed the approval of natural gas pipelines, open dozens of new power plants, including nuclear facilities, and roll back the Biden administration's aggressive efforts to get people to switch to electric cars, which he argues have a place but shouldn't be forced on consumers. He has also pledged to re-exit the Paris Climate Accords, end wind subsidies and eliminate regulations imposed and proposed by the Biden administration targeting energy-inefficient kinds of lightbulbs, stoves, dishwashers and shower heads.
Democracy/Rule of Law
HARRIS: Like Biden, Harris has decried Trump as a threat to the nation's democracy. But, in attacking her opponent, the Vice President has leaned more heavily into her personal background as a prosecutor and contrasted that with Trump being found guilty of 34 felony counts in a New York hush money case and in being found liable for fraudulent business practices and sexual abuse in civil court. The Vice President has also talked less frequently than Biden did about Trump's denial that he lost the 2020 Presidential Election and his spurring on the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. When she's interrupted during rallies with supporters' "Lock him up!" chants directed at Trump, Harris responds that the courts can "handle that" and that "our job is to beat him in November."
TRUMP: After refusing to accept his loss to Biden in 2020, Trump hasn't committed to accepting the results this time around. He's repeatedly promised to pardon the Jan. 6 defendants jailed for assaulting police officers and other crimes during the attack on the Capitol, and recently threatened to jail lawyers, election officials, donors and others "involved in unscrupulous behavior" surrounding November's vote, again stoking unfounded fears. He vows to overhaul the Justice Department and FBI "from the ground up," aggrieved by the criminal charges the department has brought against him. He also promises to deploy the National Guard to cities such as Chicago that are struggling with violent crime and in response to protests, and has also vowed to appoint a special prosecutor to go after Biden.
Federal government
HARRIS: Like Biden, Harris has campaigned hard against "Project 2025," a plan authored by leading conservatives to move as swiftly as possible to dramatically remake the federal government and push it to the right if Trump wins back the White House. She is also part of an administration that is already taking steps to make it harder for any mass firings of civil servants to occur. In April, the Office of Personnel Management issued a new rule that would ban federal workers from being reclassified as political appointees or other at-will employees, thus making them easier to dismiss. That was in response to Schedule F, a 2020 executive order from Trump that reclassified tens of thousands of federal workers to make firing them easier.
TRUMP: The former President has sought to distance himself from "Project 2025," despite his close ties to many of its key architects. He has nonetheless vowed his own overhaul of the federal bureaucracy, which he has long blamed for blocking his first term agenda, saying: "I will totally obliterate the deep state." The former President plans to reissue the Schedule F order stripping civil service protections. He says he'd then move to fire "rogue bureaucrats," including those who "weaponized our justice system," and the "warmongers and America-Last globalists in the Deep State, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the national security industrial complex." Trump has also pledged to terminate the Education Department and wants to curtail the independence of regulatory agencies like the Federal Communications Commission. As part of his effort to cut government waste and red tape, he has also pledged to eliminate at least 10 federal regulations for every new one imposed.
Immigration
HARRIS: Attempting to defuse a GOP line of political attack, the Vice President has talked up her experience as California Attorney General, saying she walked drug smuggler tunnels and successfully prosecuted gangs that moved narcotics and people across the border. Early in his term, Biden made Harris his administration's point person on the root causes of migration. Trump and top Republicans now blame Harris for a situation at the U.S.-Mexico border that they say is out of control due to policies that were too lenient. Harris has countered that Trump worsened the situation by killing a bipartisan Senate compromise that would have included tougher asylum standards and hiring more border agents, immigration judges and asylum officers. She said she would bring back that bill and sign that law, saying that Trump "talks the talk, but doesn't walk the walk" on immigration. The Vice President has endorsed comprehensive immigration reform, seeking pathways to citizenship for immigrants in the U.S. without legal status, with a faster track for young immigrants living in the country illegally who arrived as children.
TRUMP: The former President promises to mount the largest domestic deportation in U.S. history — an operation that could involve detention camps and the National Guard. He'd bring back policies he put in place during his first term, like the Remain in Mexico program and Title 42, which placed curbs on migrants on public health grounds. And he'd revive and expand the travel ban that originally targeted citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. After the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, he pledged new "ideological screening" for immigrants to bar "dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots, and maniacs." He'd also try to deport people who are in the U.S. legally but harbor "jihadist sympathies." He'd seek to end birthright citizenship for people born in the U.S. whose parents are both in the country illegally.
Israel/Gaza
HARRIS: Harris says Israel has a right to defend itself, and she's repeatedly decried Hamas as a terrorist organization. But the Vice President might also have helped defuse some backlash from progressives by being more vocal about the need to better protect civilians during fighting in Gaza. More than 40,900 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its count, but says that women and children make up just over half of the dead. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 militants in the war. Like Biden, Harris supports a proposed hostage for extended cease-fire deal that aims to bring all remaining hostages and Israeli dead home. Biden and Harris say the deal could lead to a permanent end to the grinding war and they have endorsed a two-state solution, which would have Israel existing alongside an independent Palestinian state.
TRUMP: The former President has expressed support for Israel's efforts to "destroy" Hamas, but he's also been critical of some of Israel's tactics. He says the country must finish the job quickly and get back to peace. He has called for more aggressive responses to pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses and applauded police efforts to clear encampments. Trump also proposes to revoke the student visas of those who espouse antisemitic or anti-American views and deport those who support Hamas.
LGBTQ+ issues
HARRIS: During her rallies, Harris accuses Trump and his party of seeking to roll back a long list of freedoms including the ability "to love who you love openly and with pride." She leads audiences in chants of "We're not going back." While her campaign has yet to produce specifics on its plans, she's been part of a Biden administration that regularly denounces discrimination and attacks against the LGBTQ+ community. Early in Biden's term, his administration reversed an executive order from Trump that had largely banned transgender people from military service, and his Education Department issued a rule that says Title IX, the 1972 law that was passed to protect women's rights, also bars discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. That rule was silent on the issue of transgender athletes.
TRUMP: The former President has pledged to keep transgender women out of women's sports and says he will ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that "only two genders," as determined at birth, are recognized by the United States. He promises to "defeat the toxic poison of gender ideology." As part of his crackdown on gender-affirming care, he would declare that any health care provider that participates in the "chemical or physical mutilation of minor youth" no longer meets federal health and safety standards and bar them from receiving federal money. He'd take similarly punitive steps in schools against any teacher or school official who "suggests to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body." Trump would support a national prohibition of hormonal or surgical intervention for transgender minors and bar transgender people from military service.
NATO/Ukraine
HARRIS: The Vice President has yet to specify how her positions on Russia's war with Ukraine might differ from Biden's, other than to praise the President's efforts to rebuild alliances unraveled by Trump, particularly NATO, a critical bulwark against Russian aggression. The Biden administration has pledged unceasing support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion. The government has sent tens of billions of dollars in military and other aid to Ukraine, including a tranche of aid that totaled $61 billion in weapons, ammunition and other assistance that is expected to last through the end of this year. The administration has maintained that continuing U.S. assistance is critical because Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not stop at invading Ukraine. Harris has said previously that it would be foolish to risk global alliances the U.S. has established and decried Putin's "brutality."
TRUMP: The former President has repeatedly taken issue with U.S. aid to Ukraine and says he will continue to "fundamentally reevaluate" the mission and purpose of the NATO alliance if he returns to office. He has claimed, without explanation, that he will be able to end the war before his inauguration by bringing both sides to the negotiating table. (His approach seems to hinge on Ukraine giving up at least some of its Russian-occupied territory in exchange for a cease-fire.) On NATO, he has assailed member nations for years for failing to hit agreed-upon military spending targets. Trump drew alarms this year when he said that, as President, he had warned leaders that he would not only refuse to defend nations that don't hit those targets, but "would encourage" Russia "to do whatever the hell they want" to countries that are "delinquent."
Tariffs/Trade
HARRIS: The Biden-Harris administration has sought to boost trade with allies in Europe, Asia and North America, while using tariffs and other tools to go after rivals such as China. The Democratic administration kept Trump's tariffs on China in place, while adding a ban on exporting advanced computer chips to that country and providing incentives to boost U.S. industries. In May, the Biden-Harris administration specifically targeted China with increased tariffs on electric vehicles and steel and aluminum, among other products.
TRUMP: The former President wants a dramatic expansion of tariffs on nearly all imported foreign goods, saying that "we're going to have 10% to 20% tariffs on foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years." He's suggested tariffs as high as 100% on Chinese goods. He treats these taxes as a way to fund other tax cuts, lower the deficit and possibly fund child care — though the tariffs could raise prices for consumers without generating the revenues Trump promises. He would also urge Congress to pass legislation giving the President authority to impose a reciprocal tariff on any country that imposes one on the U.S. Much of his trade agenda has focused on China. Trump has proposed phasing out Chinese imports of essential goods including electronics, steel and pharmaceuticals and wants to ban Chinese companies from owning U.S. infrastructure in sectors such as energy, technology and farmland.
Taxes
HARRIS: With much of the 2017 tax overhaul expiring at end of next year, Harris is pledging tax cuts for more than 100 million working and middle class households. In addition to preserving some of the expiring cuts, she wants to make permanent a tax credit of as much as $3,600 per child and offer a special $6,000 tax credit for new parents. Harris says her administration would expand tax credits for first-time homebuyers and push to build 3 million new housing units in four years, while wiping out taxes on tips and endorsing tax breaks for entrepreneurs. Like Biden, she wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% and the corporate minimum tax to 21%. The current corporate rate is 21% and the corporate minimum, raised under the Inflation Reduction Act, is at 15% for companies making more than $1 billion a year. But Harris would not increase the capital gains tax as much as Biden had proposed on investors with more than $1 million in income.
TRUMP: The former President has promised to extend and even expand all of the 2017 tax cuts that he signed into law, while also paying down the debt. He has proposed cutting the overall corporate tax rate to 15% from 21% — but only for companies that make their products in the U.S. He would repeal any tax increases signed into law by Biden. He also aims to gut some of the tax breaks that Biden put into law to encourage the development of renewable energy and EVs. Trump has proposed eliminating taxes on tips received by workers — a policy embraced by Harris, who would also raise the minimum wage for tipped workers — as well as eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits. He also wants to lower the cost of housing by opening up federal land to development. Outside analyses suggest that Trump's ideas would do much more to increase budget deficits than what Harris would do, without delivering the growth needed to minimize any additional debt.
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
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