Ramaswamy clashes with CNN host defending Harris' policy flip-flops: 'Actions speak louder than words'

Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy sparred with CNN anchor Kate Bolduan over Vice President Kamala Harris' policy flip-flops after a new poll found some voters perceive Harris to be less radical than her GOP opponent, former President Trump.

Bolduan presented the CNN poll, which found close to 50% of likely voters in six battleground states said Trump's views were "so extreme they pose a threat," and about 40% of voters in each of these states said the same about Harris' views. 

"If voters don‘t agree with the extreme narrative against [Harris], do you think team Trump should be shifting now?" she asked.

Ramaswamy said he "respectfully disagreed" with this take, arguing voters had not been exposed to Harris' far-left record by the media.

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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Detroit on Monday. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"Voters have not yet been exposed, principally by the media, to what Kamala Harris' past positions actually are," Ramaswamy said. "I don‘t blame the voters. They‘ve been served up a new version of Kamala Harris, where she is running to the center on economic and social policies. But the reality is, if we‘re able to use Kamala Harris‘ own words against her, as I believe we should, she ran for president favoring tax on unrealized capital gains, favoring 'abolition' — her words — to abolish private health insurance, a ban on fracking, bans on offshore drilling. These are the kinds of policies that absolutely are not mainstream for most Americans."

Bolduan defended Harris' shifting positions, saying she "made clear" to CNN's Dana Bash last week that she no longer supports a ban on private health insurance or fracking. 

"Those are not her positions," Bolduan said. "If evolving on an issue… you can even call it flip-flopping on an issue, if that is now not allowed, if that should be the death knell to a campaign, Donald Trump‘s got issues."

Ramaswamy argued that Harris hadn't just "evolved" from her past far-left views on several issues, but was backing away from policy actions she's taken throughout her political career.

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Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, disembark from their campaign bus in Savannah, Georgia, on Aug. 28, as they travel across Georgia for a two-day campaign bus tour.  (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

"Actions speak louder than words," he said.

"She said she didn‘t favor a ban on fracking now, the reality is, she was one of the strongest proponents of that ban, so much so that when she was in California, she sued the Obama administration over granting fracking permits," Ramaswamy continued. "She didn‘t just favor the abolition of private health insurance. She was a co-sponsor of the bill with Bernie Sanders as a U.S. senator for 'Medicare-for-all.' The reality is, when you think about the Green New Deal, she was the chief proponent, not just as a co-sponsor of the legislation, but going further and saying she would end the filibuster in the Senate to ram that through. So the reality is she can say what she wants to say now, those are actions she has taken."

"Is someone allowed to evolve?" he returned to Bolduan's question. "Of course they are, but she deserves to explain exactly why she‘s changed those positions. Exactly what her position is. If it‘s not a ban on fracking, what exactly is it? What exactly is her health care plan if she no longer favors abolishing private health insurance? Which just four short years ago when she ran for president, she did. That's the kind of scrutiny that‘s been missing."

Harris ended her media drought last week, taking her first sit-down interview with CNN's Dana Bash since she emerged as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee 45 days ago. However, she has yet to hold a formal press conference or take more interviews. Former President Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have done at least 37 interviews between them in the past month.

Ramaswamy said he hoped voters would be able to see more of Harris' policies when she does more media interviews and in the ABC presidential debate next week.

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Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

"The American people and the electorate deserve a rich policy debate, which they have not had with Kamala," Ramaswamy said.

Bolduan continued to press Ramaswamy on whether it was acceptable for a candidate to change positions over time. 

"It's not just a change in position," Ramaswamy doubled down. "These are actual hard positions on which she has actually taken policy action, both as a vice president and attorney general and a U.S. senator."