Kamala Harris reiterated that she owns a gun and is prepared to use it if someone tries to break into her home. The vice president made this statement during a 90-minute livestream fundraiser with Oprah Winfrey, aiming to bolster her image as a "common sense" advocate for gun control.
"If somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot," she said. She then expressed regret, much like her boss Joe Biden often does after making questionable remarks: "I probably shouldn't have said that. My staff will deal with that later." The statement quickly made waves on social media, drawing criticism from the National Rifle Association, which labeled her a "walking contradiction."
Harris Goofs Up
Harris said that both she and her vice presidential running mate, Tim Walz, are gun owners and will seek a compromise on the issue. "I think for far too long on the issue of gun violence, some people have been pushing a really false choice to say you're either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone's guns away," she said.
"I'm in favor of the second amendment, and I'm in favor of assault weapons bans, universal background checks, red flag laws," Harris added.
Conservatives quickly accused her of hypocrisy for trying to have it both ways.
Meanwhile, some began photoshopping images of Harris holding a gun.
Winfrey also included an interview with a family affected by the Apalachee High School shooting in Georgia earlier this month.
The iconic talk show host opened the 90-minute livestream by introducing a star-studded lineup of Hollywood A-listers, including Bryan Cranston, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Jennifer Lopez, Tracee Ellis Ross, Julia Roberts, and Meryl Streep.
"I am smiling from ear to ear Oprah," Breaking Bad's Cranston said. "I have never felt this much joy and optimism in a campaign in a long time."
Winfrey Makes Harris Uncomfortable
Under Winfrey's leadership, the production also featured some emotional moments, including the introduction of the mother of the first woman to die from a preventable abortion-related cause since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
In the studio audience in Michigan, Winfrey introduced Shanette, the mother of Amber Nicole Thurman, who died in August 2022 after doctors delayed her surgery for 20 hours.
ProPublica released a report this week detailing Thurman's story, identifying her as the first "preventable" death since the Dobbs decision.
Thurman had taken abortion pills but did not expel the fetal tissue, which led to an infection and necessitated a common procedure known as dilation and curettage.
However, that procedure is now classified as a felony in Georgia.
Shanette recalled that when ProPublica's Kavitha Surana first reached out to her, she initially resisted, but Surana emphasized, "People around the world need to know that this was preventable."
Thurman's sisters criticized the healthcare professionals for failing to take action to save their sister's life. "We trusted them to take care of her and they just let her die becauase of some stupid abortion ban," Thurman's sister C.J. said.
Winfrey then asked Harris to react.
"I'm just so sorry," the vice president said. "And the courage that you all have shown is extraordinary, because also, you just learned about how it is that she died."
The Democratic nominee held her opponent, former President Donald Trump, responsible for appointing three pro-life justices who aimed to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Harris also said that exceptions for when a "mother's life is in danger" are problematic due to the ambiguity of how that could be legally interpreted.
