Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the conservative-controlled Supreme Court on Wednesday, expressing concerns that its upcoming rulings could restrict various civil rights and personal freedoms for many Americans.
During an interview with The New York Times, she elaborated on her disapproval of the court’s decision to overturn federally guaranteed abortion rights in 2022, going beyond President Biden’s previous remarks to directly raise alarms about Justice Clarence Thomas and the overall trajectory of the court.
“This court has demonstrated itself to be an activist court,” stated Ms. Harris, a former California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney. “I am concerned about fundamental freedoms being threatened across the board.”
When asked about specific legal precedents that could be undone by the court, Ms. Harris hesitated to provide details, stating, “I don’t want to sound alarmist at this point.” However, she emphasized, “This court has clearly indicated its willingness to roll back established rights.”
The interview, which took place after a campaign event focusing on abortion rights in Pennsylvania, touched on various topics related to the court, the 2024 election, and the state of abortion rights in America. Ms. Harris’s comments went beyond the previous administration’s criticism of the highest court in the country, although her statements were not as harsh as the direct attacks made during the Trump administration.
In March, President Biden criticized the justices for “misinterpreting the Constitution” in their decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, but he confined his assessment to that specific ruling.
When pressed in the interview, Ms. Harris pointed to Justice Thomas’s statements in the Roe case as an indication of the court’s potential future direction. Justice Thomas, in a candid concurring opinion, suggested that the court should reconsider decisions that granted rights to same-sex intimacy, marriage, and contraception.
“You can see Clarence Thomas saying a lot of things that others might not say out loud,” she remarked. “Just examine what he said, and perhaps that will give us some insight. Just observe one of the justices to anticipate their next move.”
During her tenure as a senator from California, Ms. Harris opposed the confirmations of Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch. Her confrontational and direct questioning of Mr. Kavanaugh during his contentious confirmation hearings in 2018 propelled Ms. Harris into the national political spotlight.
Ms. Harris declined to speculate on whether any of the justices had lied during their confirmation hearings when asked about Roe as a settled legal precedent.
When asked about the presidential race, she mentioned that Mr. Trump does not trust women to make their own decisions, but she refrained from commenting on whether the former president respects women in any capacity.
She assessed Mr. Trump based on his actions, noting that she had never personally met him.
“I cannot fathom what goes on in his mind,” she stated. “I will say that his abortion bans around the country imply a lack of trust in women to determine their best interests.”
The vice president anticipated a bleak future for abortion rights if Mr. Trump were to be re-elected. She expressed concerns that women’s pregnancies could be monitored in states where abortion is prohibited to prevent them from accessing the procedure. Additionally, she suggested that Mr. Trump would sign a national abortion ban if such legislation crossed his desk. “I believe they might take that step,” Mr. Trump remarked in an interview with Time magazine last month. “You should consult with the individual states.”
Recently, Mr. Trump has attempted to soften his stance on abortion rights, advocating for states to decide the issue and resisting pressure from anti-abortion activists to support a federal ban.
Ms. Harris expressed confidence that such efforts would not sway voters who support abortion rights to endorse Mr. Trump.
“I think the American people can see through the deception and have the ability to see beyond the facade,” she remarked.
Abortion rights have been a focal point of Ms. Harris’s vice presidency, with her traveling across the country to visit clinics and host events in states with restrictive bans. In Washington, she has engaged in numerous meetings with activists, state lawmakers, medical professionals, and patients to counter conservative attempts to enforce bans and restrict access to abortion.
During the campaign event in Elkins Park, Pa., she portrayed abortion rights as a matter of personal freedom and criticized bans as governmental intrusion into the private lives of American women—a message that has been widely adopted by Democrats following the Supreme Court’s reversal of federal abortion rights.
“One does not need to compromise their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not dictate their choices,” she told the audience at an event with Sheryl Lee Ralph, an actress on the TV show “Abbott Elementary.” “Do you not have faith in women to know what is best for them?”
Later that evening, she returned to Washington to deliver remarks at the annual gala of Emily’s List, an organization that supports pro-abortion rights Democrats.
In her interview, Ms. Harris emphasized the need for more effort to persuade voters to re-elect the Biden-Harris ticket, particularly on the issue of abortion rights.
“It’s a presidential election in the United States—it inherently requires a hard-fought campaign and a well-earned victory,” she noted. “No one should be handed the presidency, right?”
