Former Vice President Kamala Harris is ripping President Trump for building a new ballroom at the White House as the government shutdown threatens the distribution of food aid benefits.
“Are you f‑‑‑ing kidding me?” Harris exclaimed during an interview on Jon Stewart’s Comedy Central podcast “The Weekly Show” released Thursday.
“This guy wants to create a ballroom for his rich friends while completely turning a blind eye to the fact that babies are going to starve when the SNAP benefits end in just hours from now,” Harris said, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Funding for SNAP — which gave benefits to an estimated 41.7 million Americans in fiscal 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture — runs out Friday.
“I’m not going to be distracted by oh, does the guy have a big f‑‑‑ing hammer? What about those babies!” Harris said.
Her remarks came in response to Stewart’s mention of the demolition of the East Wing and a question from “The Daily Show” host about whether there were any lessons to be learned from the way the president has operated.
The demolition of the East Wing last week to clear space for a $300 million ballroom has sparked a wave of criticism.
Trump has repeatedly defended the project, saying the 90,000-square-foot ballroom will be funded through private donations and will serve as a “beautiful” space to host world leaders.
Harris, who details her campaign’s loss to Trump in the 2024 presidential election in her book “107 Days,” said the Democratic Party shouldn’t solely be fixated on Trump.
“How Democrats should be thinking about leadership and getting through this moment is, yes, fighting what’s wrong, doing like what we’re doing to fight against redistricting. But also we’ve got to understand that we cannot just be focused on Donald Trump,” Harris said.
“We need to not only be against something, but also we need to be understanding of how we got here, and that it’s a bigger apparatus, and not just the one guy,” she told Stewart.
“But the second point that is equally important, which we’re not emphasizing, is what we stand for,” Harris said.
Rather than just be “anti-Trump,” she said the focus should be on health care, affordable housing, child care and other issues.
“People got to know what you stand for so that they’re clear about what they’re fighting for,” she said.
