by Cameron Boros ’25 Saawan Duvvuri ’26
November 4, 2024
Gun Ownership
Although Kamala Harris supports the 2nd Amendment right for citizens to own and carry firearms, Harris also supports universal background checks on gun-buyers. Harris also believes in implementing red-flag laws in states that would allow citizens to petition for individuals with a “high-risk of violent tendencies” to be barred from purchasing guns for a temporary period of time. During her time as Vice President, Harris also supported broader gun-control legislation and has been a progressive advocate against gun-violence.
Donald Trump would not support stricter gun legislation. Advisors and those close to Trump say he aims to block strict gun legislation using his federal judge appointments. Trump has been endorsed by the NRA, and his campaign has stated that every American has a “God given right to protect themselves and his family, and has proven through his actions that he will protect law abiding gun owners.”
Abortion Rights
Harris has historically supported national abortion rights and served as a major spokesperson on the issue during the Biden-Harris administration. In March, Harris also made history as one of the first Presidents or Vice Presidents to visit an abortion clinic. According to CNN, abortion rights are one of the largest issues that specifically female voters support, and overwhelmingly, women trust Harris’ ability to defend abortion rights over Trump’s.
Trump has drawn attention for his changing abortion views. During his term, he appointed three supreme court justices who have reversed the Roe V Wade decision that allows universal abortion access. Trump has said he wants the right to abortion to be decided by the states. Trump drew backlash from many conservatives when he said that bans on abortions after six weeks were too strict. Trump then said he would vote no on legislation that would allow abortions up to 24 weeks into pregnancy. This would keep the six week law in place. Trump has consistently stated he is proud to have ended federal abortion protections.
Racial Justice
As a Black and South Asian woman of color, Harris has devoted much of her career to fighting for racial justice surrounding various policies. Her policies concerning racial equity include criminal justice systemic reform, fair housing advocacy, and fighting systemic poverty. However, many progressive activists have critiqued Harris’ former history as a tough-on-crime prosecutor for the state of California, arguing that her prosecution history was racist and disproportionately impacted people of color people accused of petty crimes.
In 2017, Trump said there were “fine people on both sides’ of the Charlottesville race riots, in which white supremacists verbally and physically assaulted counter protestors, killing one with a car. In a speech this year, Trump has promised to give police officers Immunity, which would likely lead to more police brutality. Trump has said he’s been the “best president for Black people” since Abraham Lincoln.
Foreign Policy
Harris supports Ukraine and Taiwan’s self defense against Russia and China respectively, although she has not clarified if she supports sending US troops or military aid to either country. Harris has also suggested that China is the greatest geopolitical threat to the United States, citing their infringement on U.S. intellectual property and mass exportation of cheap goods into the U.S. economy. More controversially, she has expressed support for Israel’s invasion of Palestine, and now Lebanon, although she has briefly acknowledged the suffering of the Palestinian people. Harris has not directly spoken on whether Israel would continue to receive direct military support from the US government if she wins the presidential election.
Trump has a “strongman” view on foreign policy. Some have criticized his close ties to known authoritarians, while others have praised them as improving US relations with our adversaries. Trump has been involved in many foreign policy scandals over his four years in office. He was impeached for soliciting the government of Ukraine in 2019. There was a large investigation over Russia’s involvement in his 2016 election win, which did not find Trump himself guilty. Trump has dodged around directly supporting Ukraine, and has said he is a good friend of Putin while Zelensky was President. He is a prominent supporter of Israel and their war in the Middle East.
Immigration
While Harris has expressed a sharper tone on immigration compared to previous policies in place within the Biden-Harris administration, she is still open to and supportive of immigration across the United States. Harris’ policies focus heavily on immigration reform, prioritizing humanitarian protections and opening opportunities for undocumented immigrants to obtain U.S. citizenship. Harris also supports modernizing current legal immigration systems, specifically focusing on updating backlogs and improving the pace of current legal immigration practices.
Donald Trump often makes sweeping, harsh and unfounded claims about immigrants. He often calls migrants killers, and rapists, and has accused them of “poisoning the blood of our country.” However, undocumented migrants are less likely to commit crimes than natural born Americans. He ran his 2016 campaign promising to “build a wall” on the United States-Mexico border and to make Mexico pay for the wall. Today, there are around 458 miles of steel bollards sporadically spread across the Southern Border. There were only about 47 miles of wall constructed in places where no previous barriers already existed, and smugglers were able to saw through parts with cheap power tools.Nevertheless, during Trump’s term, during the 2019 fiscal year over 850,000 people were apprehended at the border, more than double the fiscal year before. Trump is claiming that his second term will result in the largest deportation of people in the history of the United States. There were around 11 million undocumented Migrants in the United States as of 2024.
Economic Policies
Harris’ economic policies focus on uplifting the American middle class and improving the affordability of common products. Harris’ policies include lowering taxes on the middle class, reducing food and prescription drug costs, and providing financial assistance to first time home buyers and small businesses. Harris would also raise the corporate income tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, and expand on the child tax credit, which would give families $3,000 in tax credits for children above the age of 5 and $3600 for children below the age of 5 annually.
Some parts of the Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed in 2017 are set to expire in 2025. Donald Trump has proposed getting rid of the cap on state and local tax deductions, known as SALT. The TCJA limits this cap to 10,000, but this is set to expire in 2025. Trump has called for lowering the corporate tax to 15% for some corporations. The TCJA lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. He has floated the idea of eliminating taxes on tips, social security and overtime pay. He has also said he would cap credit card interest rates at 10%, less than half the current rate.
Trump’s boldest economic plan is his tariff plan to spur American manufacturing. Drawing influence from President McKinley, Trump plans to place a 10% tariff on the importation of all foreign goods, and a large 60% tariff on goods from China to spur American manufacturing. It is uncertain if this would work, but almost all economists and historical precedent point to this creating increased inflation.
It is important to understand exactly how tariffs work in order to examine this economic policy. Trump is a massive fan of them. and has said that tariffs are “the best things ever invented” and called himself “Tarif man.” A tariff is essentially an import tax, and would raise prices for consumers. It is difficult to pin down how much these taxes would impact consumers, because Trump routinely suggests different tariff percentages, and its uncertain if these proposals would be able to pass through the legislature.
For additional reading, we recommend:
The Washington Post on the candidates’ positions on gun control and crime
Pew Research Center on Unauthorized Immigration
CNN on Harris and Trump’s proposals for taxes
