Media begin to turn on Harris over economic policy ‘gimmicks’

The media have taken heat for hesitating to hold Vice President Kamala Harris’s feet to the fire after replacing President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket, but not all left-leaning outlets are buying her much-anticipated economic plan to fight inflation.

After going weeks with no policy agendas on her campaign website, Harris unveiled her plan to fight inflation, which takes aim at business owners who increase prices in a market where the cost of buying and producing goods has never been higher.

“Harris’s plan to stop price gouging could create more problems than it solves,” one CNN headline reads. The Washington Post published an op-ed titled, “The times demand serious economic ideas. Harris supplies gimmicks.” The latter piece pushed back on Harris’s claims that price gouging is causing inflation.

An economist told ABC that price increases at grocery stores do not stand as a primary cause of inflation. He warned, “You have to be careful not to cherry pick” data, as “most of the inflation over the past few years has been caused by increases in costs.”

CNN political commentator Van Jones, on the other hand, praised Harris for “boldly” calling out “price gouging.” He said, “Most Americans don’t have a problem with technology CEOs. It’s these grocery stores ripping people off, the big grocers.”

Republicans such as RNC co-chairwoman Lara Trump have accused the media of creating “manufactured” momentum for Harris, as the press has run mostly positive coverage about Harris since she replaced Biden, while allowing her to evade difficult questions.

The Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney chided that “media bias is evident in the dozens of stories basking in the ‘joy’ of the Harris-Walz ticket. Republicans always worry that media bias will tip the electoral scales against them, and this isn’t false.”

Carney explained that many in the media, which he says is dominated by left-leaning journalists, “fail to criticize, question, or investigate their preferred candidates.” As a result, “The conservative media fill a crucial role here, informing readers of facts the left-leaning major media would never report.”

With the Democratic National Convention set to begin on Monday, and the first presidential debate between Harris and former president Donald Trump coming up in September, the media criticism over Harris’s economic plan may signal a turning point in how the Vice President is covered as she will be unable to avoid the national spotlight.