In 2017, then-Senator Kamala Harris voted against the tax cuts supported by Donald Trump, which included the doubling of the child tax credit. At the time, Harris criticized Trump’s tax plan, calling it “shameful” and claiming it did “not reflect the best of who we are as a country,” according to a press release. When she ran for president in 2019, Harris even suggested “getting rid of the whole thing,” as reported by Bloomberg.
During a recent campaign event in Detroit, Harris reiterated her opposition to the 2017 tax plan, stating, “On day one, we’re going to repeal that tax bill that benefited the top 1 percent and corporations.” However, repealing the 2017 tax plan would have resulted in higher tax rates for many taxpayers and would have cut the child tax credit in half, reducing it from $2,000 to $1,000.
Despite her previous stance, Harris has now shifted her position on the child tax credit, proposing to increase it to $6,000, surpassing the $5,000 expansion that the Trump administration had originally proposed.
GOP vice-presidential candidate JD Vance recently expressed support for a $5,000 child tax credit during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation. Vance stated that if he and Trump were elected, they would work with Congress to pass the proposal, according to CNBC.
Just days after Vance’s remarks, Harris announced her plan to raise the child tax credit to $6,000. In response, the Trump-Vance campaign released a statement accusing Harris of hypocrisy. The statement read, “Yesterday, Kamala Harris unveiled her communist economic agenda, including Soviet-style price controls. Kamala is apparently now in favor of expanding the child tax credit – but her record says otherwise.”
The campaign further noted, “Kamala has repeatedly vowed to REPEAL President Trump’s middle-class tax cuts – including the doubling of the Child Tax Credit,” and highlighted her consistent opposition to the 2017 tax plan.