Table of Contents
Criminal Justice
General Overview
President Donald Trump
- President Trump has been a skeptic turned critic of Joe Biden’s plan on crime, predicting before 2020 that “our communities would be plagued by bloodshed, chaos and violent crime” and more recently affirming that he was “right about everything.”
- He has vowed to crack down on migrant crime.
- He has highlighted the increase in migrants crossing the border illegally since President Biden took office, though deportations have also increased.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- She started her career as a prosecutor in the late 1980s in Alameda County pursuing child abuse and sex trafficking cases before rising to become San Francisco’s District Attorney in 2004 and Attorney General of the state of California in 2011.
- She has described herself as a progressive prosecutor.
- She has touted her success as a DA as being one which raised conviction rates in San Francisco to their highest in 15 years. While running for Attorney General, she boasted of her 71% success rate in felony convictions.
- Critics point to her reliance on plea deals and a low percentage of jury trial convictions, especially in homicide and manslaughter cases in 2009 and 2010 comparative to other California cities.
Administrations
President Donald Trump
According to trumpwhitehouse.com:
- Violent crime rate declined over 5% during his term and the murder rate fell by over 7%.
- His administration promoted second-chance hiring to give former inmates opportunities.
- His DOJ provided $400 million for new law enforcement hiring to end the scourge of human trafficking.
- The number of border apprehensions hit a 12 year high in 2019, Trump’s last year in office. (according to Pew Research Institute)
Vice President Kamala Harris
According to YouGov Poll:
- Her proposal of requiring criminal and mental background checks for all gun purchases is strongly or somewhat supported by 82% of Americans
- Her proposal of reclassifying marijuana to a less restrictive category of drugs is supported by 66% of Americans
- Her proposal of expanding justice department authority to address police misconduct is supported by 63% of Americans
- The Biden-Harris administration signed the Safer Communities Act to restrict gun trafficking and restrict those with a history of domestic abuse from owning a gun.
Death Penalty
President Donald Trump
- He has stated that if reelected, he would direct federal prosecutors to seek the harshest possible charges and sentences.
- He has stated his desire for expanded use of the death penalty across broader categories of crime.
- The Trump administration administered capital punishment on thirteen people, the most by any administration in 120 years.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- She argued in favor of maintaining the death penalty as an option of punishment for the courts as Attorney General.
- She has spoken out against the death penalty in practice and opted for a life sentence to a person who was convicted of murdering a police officer as a DA, a move which sparked significant backlash.
Drug Crime
President Donald Trump
- In Fiscal Year 2019, ICE HSI seized 12,466 pounds of opioids, including 3,688 pounds of fentanyl—though this number has increased since.
- The Trump administration DOJ charged more than sixty-five defendants collectively responsible for the distribution of more than 45 million opioid pills.
- President Trump said he would “probably” support the STATES act, which would have ended the federal government’s ability to prosecute marijuana-related crimes. His administration took no clear stance on marijuana reform.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- She signed onto Senator Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) marijuana legalization bill and introduced her own federal decriminalization bill.
- As DA, she launched “Back on Track,” a reentry initiative that aimed at reducing recidivism among low-level first-time felony drug defendants who were 18 to 30 years old. The defendant could have their charge deferred after six weeks of community service and then ultimately dismissed after they completed a 12-18 month program and enrolled in a school or found employment.
Reform Efforts
President Donald Trump
- He signed The First Step Act which required the Attorney General to assess recidivism risk and criminogenic needs for all federal prisoners and place some in recidivism reducing programs.
- The Act also increased the good time credits inmates can receive annually, required the Bureau of Prisons to house inmates in facilities as close to their homes as possible, and required correctional officers to receive de-escalation training and training for dealing with people with mental illnesses.
- His administration launched a program to promote second-chance hiring.
- The Trump administration granted clemency to 2% of those who requested it, the second lowest of any President since McKinley. Some of those pardoned were charged with intent to distribute marijuana.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- As a Senator, she introduced a bail reform bill with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY).
- She championed legislation in California to prosecute and fine parents of perpetually truant children, claiming it reduced truancy rates by 32% when she was San Francisco’s District Attorney.
- She has advocated the need for law enforcement to adapt to technology, though she did not take a stance when she was attorney general on the state-wide adoption of body cameras.
The Economy
Jobs & Labor
President Donald Trump
- President Trump stated in a 2020 debate with then Vice President Joe Biden that he would consider a federal minimum wage raise to $15, but would prefer to leave it to the states.
- He has spoken of the need for energy independence and the Republican platform this year declared the need to “DRILL, BABY, DRILL.”
- Trump will likely attack Kamala Harris on inflation, which grew only half as much as wages under his administration.
- Pre-pandemic, annual incomes under Trump rose at a greater rate than under Biden’s presidency, slightly (according to the Washington Post).
- Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, spoke at the RNC this year.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- She is likely to stress the Biden administration’s role in creating 15 million jobs since January, 2021, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- She supports a $15 minimum wage.
- She was the spokesperson for the $100 million investment in small and medium auto manufacturers for the Biden administration
- In the past she has endorsed a fracking ban—though she has walked back this statement.
- According to a survey by Xometry and Zogby Strategies, she is supported by the majority of manufacturing CEOs—though not by the majority of total CEOs.
- She has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers, the Communication Workers of America, and the Laborer’s International Union of North America.
Trade
President Donald Trump
- President Trump raised tariffs on many Chinese products as well as aluminum, steel, washing machines and solar power across the board. In 2019, the U.S. government brought in $79 billion in tariffs, twice the value of 2017.
- He is expected to impose a universal baseline tariff on all U.S. imports and a 60 percent tariff on all imports from China if re-elected.
- He has advocated for a weaker dollar, arguing that its current value undermines the competitiveness of American manufacturing.
- He pulled the US out of NAFTA to sign the USMCA, which he argues was a benefit due to its higher requirements for auto-sector rules-of-origin, its expanding of U.S. access to the Canadian dairy market, and its scaling back of investor-state dispute settlements.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- She voted against Trump’s USMCA, citing that it didn’t account for climate change nor sufficiently protect American workers.
- She is likely to keep in place Trump’s tariffs, which Biden has also maintained—according to Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.
- She would likely maintain the Biden administration’s increase in tariffs on solar cells and modules as well as those to close a “trade loophole” in which Mexican-exported metals relied on Chinese manufacturing.
Taxes
President Donald Trump
- Trump has continuously stressed the positive aspects of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which doubled the exemption to the estate tax, cut the corporate tax rate, and raised the child tax credit to $2,000.
- He has stated his desire to lower the corporate income tax rate to 20%
- He has floated the idea of an “all tariff policy” that would ultimately eliminate the need for an income tax.
- Project 2025, written by some past and current Trump insiders and administration officials, has proposed turning tax brackets into a two-rate individual tax system with flat rates of 15 and 30 percent—though, President Trump has not commented on this.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- As a Senator, she introduced legislation to provide tax credits of up to $6,000 to low and middle income households
- Her senatorial campaign proposed expanding the earned income tax credit and child tax credit.
- Her senatorial campaign also proposed a refundable tax credit for those who spend over 30% of their gross income on rent and make $100,000 or less.
- She will likely embrace Biden’s proposals to cut taxes on those making less than $400,000 as well as his plan to raise the corporate tax rate to 28%, as she favored raising it to 35% during her own campaign in 2019.
Finance & Banking
President Donald Trump
- President Trump enjoys campaigning on the success of the stock market and he will likely make it a point that indexes like the S&P 500 gained 70% during his term.
- He will likely champion banking deregulation.
- The banking industry’s biggest donors tend to back mostly Republican groups and causes and he has said he would consider JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as Treasury Secretary, though he later walked back that statement.
- VP nominee JD Vance has spurred questioning from some Trump-backers, stating at the RNC that the party is done “catering to Wall Street.”
Vice President Kamala Harris
- As Attorney General of California, she walked on a deal with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Walls Fargo, Ally Financial and Citigroup over “robo-signing and allegations of foreclosure misconduct” to later renegotiate mortgage relief from $4 billion to $18 billion in a multistate deal.
- In her senatorial campaign she proposed a .2% financial transaction tax on stock trades and a .1% FTT on bonds trading.
- Her proposed “Ensuring Diverse Leadership Act” in the senate would have mandated that the Federal Reserve interview at least one person of gender and ethnic diversity for the position of president.
Technology
President Donald Trump
- The 2024 RNC platform called for repealing “Joe Biden’s dangerous executive order that hinders AI innovation.”
- He has championed the need for free speech, online.
- President Trump is speaking at the Bitcoin 2024 conference and is expected to lay out his support for cryptocurrency.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- As Attorney General, she joined 35 states in questioning Google’s privacy policies and sued Delta Air Lines over privacy concerns, although the case was dismissed due to a federal restriction on states’ ability to regulate airlines.
- As AG, she announced the arrest of the owner and operator of a revenge porn site and summoned leaders of Silicon Valley to discuss the issue.
- As Vice President, she served as A.I. czar and brought chiefs of OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google to White House to discuss safety standards and also attended Former PM Rishi Sunak’s Global Summit on AI Safety.
- She will likely defend the executive order signed by President Biden which established safety standards and testing models for AI.
- She is likely to laud the success of the Biden administration’s CHIPS+ Act which facilitated an increase in semiconductor manufacturing and R&D.
Healthcare
Comprehensive Plan
President Donald Trump
- President Trump has called Obamacare “a catastrophe.”
- His administration worked to undo several aspects of Obamacare, including the individual mandate.
- His White House boasted about lowering Medicare advantage premiums and making sure the individual insurance market was sufficiently competitive.
- His administration’s “Operation Warp Speed” is credited with expediting the process of developing vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- Vice President Harris will likely run on the Biden-Harris administration’s record of enhancing Affordable Care Act subsidies and capping insulin at $35 per month.
- She will likely also champion the Inflation reduction act allowing medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies.
- As a senator, she supported Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All Act, though she later walked back her support for eliminating private health care.
Abortion
President Donald Trump
- He has said he prefers to leave abortion rights decisions to the states.
- Mr. Trump’s appointees for the Supreme Court were responsible for the overturning of Roe v. Wade during the Dobbs case.
- He has said “everyone wanted [abortion rights] back [to the states].”
- He agreed with the Supreme Court decision to protect access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
- He has said he “believes in the exceptions for rape, incest, and rights of the mother.”
Vice President Kamala Harris
- Vice President Harris has been vocal in her support of a woman’s right to choose.
- Vice President Harris supported legislation that would protect the right to an abortion nationally.
- She has argued that states with a history of restricting abortion rights should be subject to pre-clearance for adopting new abortion-related laws.
Opioid Crisis
President Donald Trump
- President Trump has attempted to draw a causal link between the border crisis and the opioid crisis.
- He signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act to expand access to opioid use disorder treatment centers under medicare.
- His running mate, JD Vance, has a deep personal connection to the crisis, as his mother struggled with opioid addiction and President Trump’s brother also struggled with an addiction to alcohol.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- She has spoken out on the need to address the underlying health concerns of addiction and treatment, and “destigmatize this issue.”
- She has supported expanded access to naloxone.
- She has expressed a need to “follow the money” and “dismantle transnational criminal organizations.
Social security
President Donald Trump
- President Trump has vowed not to cut “a single penny” from social security—a walk back from previous reports of him saying he is open to cutting it.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- She co-sponsored Sen. Warren’s Social Security Expansion Act.
- During the 2020 campaign, the Biden-Harris ticket proposed raising taxes on those making more than $400,000 per year to shore up social security, though no actions were taken on this idea.
National Security
Military & Veterans
President Donald Trump
- President Trump says he “rebuilt the military” by approving spending raises.
- He passed the Mission Act of 2018, which the majority of veterans surveyed credited with improving VA health care.
- He established the Space Force, the first new branch of the armed forces since 1947.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- She will likely support the expansion of veterans benefits under the Biden-Harris administration’s PACT Act and defend the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
- Vice President Haris prosecuted and won a $1.1 billion settlement against Corinthian Colleges, a chain of for-profit schools that targeted veterans.
- Secretary Lloyd Austin has said that she was “always a part of the [decision-making] process.
- She supported President Trump’s Mission Act while a U.S. senator.
Border
President Donald Trump
- He and the RNC platform have continually blamed President Biden and democrats for the “migrant invasion,” citing the lesser number of crossings under his Presidency, though there were also less deportations.
- He has said he would restore his “remain in Mexico” program for asylum seekers and the RNC platform called for a “merit-based” process.
- He has pledged to end birthright citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- While often derided as the failed “border czar” by critics, Vice President Harris’ role was to address to root problem of illegal immigration, the same task President Biden had as VP.
- She signed a commitment to providing $4 billion in direct assistance to Mexico and $5.2 billion in public-private partnerships.
- She famously said “do not come” to those thinking of trying to cross the border from Guatemala.
- Illegal immigration through the southern border hit a historic high under the Biden-Harris administration
Israel-Palestine
President Donald Trump
- President Trump has continually expressed his support for Israel, recognizing Jeruselum as the capital during his term.
- He has said that “October 7 would never have happened if I was president…Iran was broke.”
- He has criticized Israel’s lack of deftness at public relations, but has remained steadfast in his verbal commitment to bringing the hostages of Hamas home.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- Vice President Harris has called for an eventual two-state solution.
- She has denounced Hamas and Hezbollah and acknowledged Israel’s right to defend itself.
- She has pressed Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu for the situation in Gaza, saying that “we cannot look away in the face of these tragedies.”
- She has called for a ceasefire in which the hostages are released and the people of Gaza can exercise their rights of freedom.
Ukraine-Russia
President Donald Trump
- President Trump has called for a ceasefire and said he could “solve the conflict in a single day.”
- He has been critical of NATO in the past and said the if they did not cooperate he would “encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want.”
- His advisers reportedly want to demand NATO members spend 3% of GDP on defense.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- Vice President Harris has called the Russian war in Ukraine an “assault on our common values” and has stressed the need to punish Russia and not embolden other dictators.
- She has criticized isolationist foreign policy outlooks, stating “isolation is not insulation.”
- She announced a $1.5 billion aid package for Ukraine through the State Department.
Guns
President Donald Trump
- President Trump has been endorsed by the NRA.
- He has told members of the NRA during a conference that “no one will lay a finger on your firearms” if he is reelected, elaborating “there was great pressure on me…We did nothing.”
- The Trump administration deleted the names of nearly 500,000 “fugitives from justice” from a national database used for background checks. They have only restored 1,000 people to these records.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- She oversaw the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention
- She announced the launch of the National ERPO Resource Center, which is meant to increase the effectiveness of red flag laws.
- She will likely defend the Biden Administration signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which expanded background check requirements to include juvenile records, expanded the federal definition of a firearms dealer, and closed the boyfriend loophole.
- She has often categorized gun-control legislation as needed to protect the safety of citizens at school, the grocery store, and walking down the street.
- As a senator, Vice President Harris was given a rating of 7% by the NRA.
Climate Change
President Donald Trump
- President Trump has continually expressed his support for fracking and the fossil fuel industry, calling global warming a “hoax.”
- At the debate with President Biden, he said “I want absolutely immaculate clean water, and I want absolutely clean air.”
- His administration pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Accords.
- His administration made 74 deregulatory actions, including replacing the Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule.
- He opened part of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development.
Vice President Kamala Harris
- Vice President Harris represented the US at the Global Climate Summit in Dubai in 2023.
- As VP, she argued and succeed in allocating $20 billion to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
- As Senator, she supported the Clean School Bus Act, the Water Justice Act, and was an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal.
- As Attorney General, she challenged offshore fracking and obtained settlements from Chevron and BP.
- As a District Attorney, she created an environmental justice unit.
- She will likely champion the Inflation Reduction Act’s investment.
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