Sen. Tom Cotton: Americans won’t want Harris to lead when they “get a better look at her and her radical positions”

Washington — Sen. Tom Cotton said on Sunday that Americans won’t want Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the nation after they learn more about her, urging more press scrutiny of the presumptive Democratic nominee who vaulted to the top of the ticket in recent weeks. 

“When the American people get a better look at her and her radical positions, I think you’re gonna see that they don’t want her to continue the Biden-Harris legacy,” Cotton said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

The Arkansas Republican criticized Harris for being the presumptive nominee for two weeks without providing any opportunity for unscripted moments or questions from the press. He said when she does encounter the media, she’ll have to answer for her positions on issues like energy and gun policy.

“Kamala Harris has only been the nominee for two weeks and hasn’t answered a single question,” he said, adding that it’s “incumbent upon the media” to hold Harris to the same standard as nominees who win the nomination through the traditional primary process. 

“Donald Trump in ’16, Barack Obama in ’08 — they all had to go through more than a year of testing at town halls and VFWs and debates because they earned the nomination,” Cotton told moderator Ed O’Keefe. “Kamala Harris had it given to her.”

Cotton claimed that Harris has “dodged the press” for the two weeks since she received President Biden’s endorsement.

“She can’t dodge the press for another 13 weeks,” he said. 

His comments came amid new voter enthusiasm surrounding the Democratic ticket after Mr. Biden’s decision to step aside reset the presidential race. According to new CBS News polling, Harris has a 1-point edge on former President Donald Trump nationally, which Mr. Biden never saw. The survey found that Harris and Trump are tied across the nation’s battleground states.