Is Kamala Harris a Silent Threat to Free Speech and Democracy?

• The narrative of Trump threatening democracy relies on multiple hoaxes or distortions

• Harris’ support for court-packing and federalized election laws undermines democratic checks and balances

• Harris indicates she would continue certain authoritarian habits of her current administration

Where Trump stands

Donald Trump has been relentlessly accused of undermining democracy, often dating back to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, though the accusations began when he entered the race in 2015. These accusations often ignore crucial facts and frequently involve far-reaching comparisons to 20th-century villains like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini.

Many on the political left are concerned with the state of American democracy, with a recent Gallup poll identifying 85 percent of voters who say that “Democracy in the US” is a very or extremely important issue to them.

The accusations of Donald Trump being a threat to democracy tend to center around his rhetoric, most recently involving his assertion that Haitian migrants in Ohio eat cats and dogs.

The media claims this rhetoric has led to bomb threats against schools in Springfield, and while threats were indeed made, Ohio’s governor confirmed that all of them were hoaxes originating from overseas.

Regarding Jan. 6, the overwhelming majority of elected Republicans acknowledge that the riot was unacceptable, and that the original protest got out of hand, including Trump. The former president told his supporters to protest “peacefully” and called for the riot to stop once it happened.

What many in the media downplay is that Trump had told the acting secretary of defense that there should be around 10,000 National Guard troops to be on standby on Jan. 6.

While the media has issued fact-checks to prove that Trump never made an official request for those troops, the Department of Defense never took the initiative to follow up on the president’s request.

Additionally, Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser had declined to deploy more than approximately 350 officers.

After the election, Donald Trump wanted the results challenged through legal means in Congress. If this represents a “threat to democracy,” then Democrats are guilty as well, since they challenged electoral outcomes in 2000, 2004, and 2016. Several high-ranking Democrats have not committed to certifying this year’s results if Trump wins.

In terms of accomplishments, Trump's administration strengthened the economy, lowered unemployment to historic lows, and reshaped the judiciary.

With over 230 federal judges and three Supreme Court justices appointed, Trump left an indelible mark on the country’s legal framework — with the pretense that courts would respect the Constitution rather than impose progressive interpretations.

Where Harris stands

During Kamala Harris’ tenure as vice president, the Department of Justice has frequently targeted not just the former president and Harris’ current political opposition, but have fiercely gone after pro-life and religious Americans. Meanwhile, the FBI under Biden-Harris has reportedly purged itself of conservative agents.

Under the current administration’s FBI, the definition of “extremism” has been changed to include those on the political right, mainly used to prosecute huge numbers of individuals around the Capitol on Jan. 6, many of whom have been prosecuted for nonviolent offenses.

As attorney general of California, Harris herself has gone after pro-lifers after they had exposed the illegal sale of aborted fetus parts by Planned Parenthood.

Harris’ support for radically overhauling the Supreme Court exposes her hypocrisy when it comes to "defending democracy." While she claims to protect democratic institutions, her backing of legislation that would allow the appointment of a new justice every two years has been criticized by conservatives as threatening the stability and independence of the judiciary.

The Biden-Harris’ administration also allowed ISIS — which was virtually entirely wiped out under Trump’s presidency — to resurface in the wake of its botched Afghanistan withdrawal. An ISIS-K terrorist in America was recently arrested for plotting an Election Day massacre.

When it comes to her future plans, Harris signals an even more leftward tilt if she ascends to the presidency. She has supported efforts to federalize election laws like the For the People Act, which critics argue would weaken state-level safeguards and lead to federal overreach in elections.

Moreover, Harris has stated time and time again that she would welcome censorship to combat online “misinformation” — often just a term used to identify right-wing speech.

The Biden-Harris administration has taken an unprecedented approach to regulating speech, especially on issues such as COVID-19, which have been challenged all the way to the Supreme Court.

Why it matters

The Biden-Harris administration pursued many policies seen as harmful to democracy. By advocating for court-packing, online censorship, and federal control over state election laws, Harris seeks to override many of the checks and balances that safeguard democratic institutions.

Meanwhile, the media’s portrayal of Trump as a fascist, while ignoring or excusing Harris’ authoritarian tendencies, has further eroded public trust in those institutions.

The constant drumbeat of media narratives framing Donald Trump and Republicans as threats to democracy has created an environment where normal conservative voices are labeled as extreme. Harris signals she would gladly double down on this when she takes the reigns.