Here’s where Trump, Harris stand on the economy, immigration, abortion

In November, voters will choose between a vice president or a former president to lead the country. Voters could opt for former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, or Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ nominee.

The candidates represent opposite options, and they agree on little. Both will have campaigned in the region by week’s end. Trump spoke in Asheville, N.C., on Wednesday. Harris will rally in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday. Here’s where each stands on immigration, the economy, and reproductive rights.

Immigration

Immigration policy has long been a signature of Trump’s campaign, beginning in 2016 when he promised to force Mexico to foot the bill for a wall along the United States and Mexico border.

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It remains a central theme of his campaign.

During Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention, where he accepted the party’s nomination, he promised to close the borders on “day one.”

At the RNC, delegates could be seen holding signs reading “mass deportation now.” Trump also has promised to launch the “largest deportation operation in the history of our country.”

Harris says that Trump talks a “big game about border security but he does not walk the walk.”

During a rally in Arizona, Harris invoked her record as California’s former attorney general.

“I was Attorney General of a border state. I went after the transnational gangs, the drug cartels and the human traffickers. I prosecuted them in case after case and I won. So, I know what I’m talking about.”

Harris also reminded voters of a bipartisan border security deal Biden endorsed but ultimately was killed after Trump urged GOP lawmakers to do so.

“We know our immigration system is broken, and we know what it takes to fix it: comprehensive reform. That includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship. But Donald Trump does not want to fix this problem,” Harris said, promising to sign the bill that she calls the “toughest bipartisan border security bill in decades.”

Economy

Harris is set to deliver a speech on economic policies in Raleigh, N.C. It will be her first major policy address since replacing President Joe Biden who dropped out of the race last month. So far, her two economic policy proposals have covered raising the minimum wage and removing taxes on tips.

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“We will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” Harris said in Nevada.”

Harris’ speech in North Carolina will outline a plan to “lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price gouging,” according to USA TODAY.

Harris’ promise of no taxes on tips is an issue where she and Trump have common ground.

Trump, who says Harris is copying him, made the promise back in June. Neither have said specifically how ending taxes on tips would work.

According to his campaign website, Trump’s other economic policies include “large tax cuts for workers” and increasing gas production, which he says will help reduce inflation by lowering gas prices.

Trump has often criticized the Biden administration for high inflation rates, saying that it would not have been as high if he had been in office.

“You’re paying the price for Kamala’s liberal extremism at the gas pump, at the grocery counter, and on your mortgage bill,” he said on Wednesday at a rally in Asheville, N.C.

Reproductive rights

Abortion, considered by political watchers as a strong issue for Harris and a weaker one for Trump, is also a top issue after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe V. Wade in 2022.

Trump takes credit for it, while Harris lets him.

“Understand how we got here. When he was president, Donald Trump handpicked three United States Supreme Court members with the intention that they would overturn and undo the protections of Roe V. Wade. And as intended they did,” Harris said in Arizona. “And now, in over 20 states in our nation, there is a Trump abortion ban. Many like Arizona with no exceptions even for rape or incest.”

In 2024, she embarked on a nationwide reproductive freedoms tour, including a visit to a Planned Parenthood in Minnesota, believed to be the first official visit by a vice president or president to an abortion clinic.

Harris promises to restore “reproductive freedoms” by signing it into law if Congress passes the bill.

Trump, who once called himself pro-choice but changed his stance during his 2016 campaign, once declared he was the “most pro-life president.”

In April, he said abortion should be left up to the states in a video posted to Truth Social.

“Many states will be different, many will have a different number of weeks, or some will have more conservative than others, and that’s what they will be,” Trump said in the video.

Savannah Moss covers politics for the Greenville News. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X @Savmoss.