Moore brushes off concerns over Harris’ 2020 campaign: ‘It was pretty long ago’

(WASHINGTON) — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, D, brushed off concerns about Vice President Kamala Harris’ short-lived 2020 campaign as she ramps up her presidential campaign this year.

“This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz pressed Moore on if anything “gives you pause” after Harris’ 2020 campaign ended before any primary votes were cast.

“I also know it was pretty long ago,” Moore said. “Since then, we’ve had an entire administration that people have had a chance to see her work. Throughout that time, we’ve had an entire period where people can see where we have historically low unemployment rates throughout our country. I think people are now seeing what a Harris leadership can look like and what it can bring to the future of the country.”

Moore also swatted away Republican attacks on Harris, many of which have focused on stances she took during her 2020 run.

Among the policies she adopted during that campaign included ending the filibuster to adopt a “Green New Deal,” starting from “scratch” on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and making it a civil offense rather than a criminal one to cross the border illegally.

“I think she needs to continue putting together her vision for the future,” Moore said. “First of all, it’s remarkably disingenuous to call someone who was a prosecutor for her entire career, someone who is soft on crime or someone who believes in ‘defund the police,’ she’s never believed in defund the police.”

Early signs indicate an improvement in the way Americans view Harris. A new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday showed her approval rating jumping from 35% to 43% in a week.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, D, also expressed optimism on Sunday that Harris’ campaign could resonate with voters even after Harris’ lackluster 2020 bid.

“Look, the electorate is energized. Democrats are ready to go, you’ve seen hundreds of thousands of people signing up to volunteer, plus our candidate is the Energizer Bunny. She’s been everywhere all the time over the last several days. And we’re excited about that, to get to see her in the battleground states and all over the country, and her message is one that I think resonates with people,” Pritzker told “This Week.”

Raddatz also pressed Pritzker on immigration — the root causes of which Harris was tasked with handling and which Republicans are hammering her on, though Pritzker largely laid the blame on former President Donald Trump for walking away from a bipartisan agreement to clamp down on the border.

“An enormous problem,” Pritzker said. “Guess what, Republicans were willing to work with Democrats to get something done. And who knows who blew that up, who blew up the opportunity for border security? It was Donald Trump.”

Pritzker, who has been discussed as a possible running mate for Harris, declined to say if he’s been asked for vetting materials. “Well certainly I’ve talked to Kamala Harris last week, of course as things were evolving, had a great conversation with her and I pledged her that no matter what the outcome of this process, that I’d be working hard for her and making sure that she wins in November,” he said.

And while he is competing against several other contenders from battleground states, he said the focus should be on someone who can deliver a cogent message.

“Winning those battleground states is most important. There’s no doubt,” he said. “But I think we’ve seen over the last, well, decades, that who you pick as your vice president doesn’t determine whether you’re going to win a state or not. What it does determine is whether you’ve got the message right across the board.”

Harris’ ascendance to her status as the likeliest nominee for Democrats comes after Democrats persuaded Biden that he no longer had a path to defeating Trump after last month’s debate and that he should drop out.

Moore was a public ally of Biden’s but said Sunday there were “real concerns.”

“I had private conversations with the president, and I’m a big believer that when you care about somebody, you tell them the truth. And I had private conversations where I was telling the president the truth. I also know that the president deserved better than people [who] were running around and going into public and demanding that the president of the United States step down,” he said.

“I think the truth is that there were real concerns. There are real concerns that I know that people had felt, but also that people were telling me that they had felt,” he added. “I’m a loyalty person. And I believe that you can have proper conversations and tell people the truth and be able to tell them what you’re hearing without also then turning around and publicly then trying to embarrass them.”