Kamala Harris faced tough questions on the economy, immigration, and war from veteran CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker on 60 Minutes Monday evening.
The vice president was pressed on how she would pay for her economic plans and deflected when the increase in undocumented migrants was brought up. Harris was also able to take a swipe at former President Donald Trump, who had turned down an offer to appear on the same program.
With less than a month before Election Day and the prospect of an “October surprise” on both candidates’ minds, attention is focused on the claims and campaign promises Harris and Trump make between now and November 5.
While much of the interview pressed Harris on plans and views over record in office, Newsweek’s Fact Check team has analyzed the claims she made on Monday night.
Kamala Harris at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on October 7. Harris was grilled on “60 Minutes” about immigration, foreign policy and the economy.
EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“We now have historic low unemployment in America among all groups of people.“
When asked what she would do to tackle rising food prices and the state of the United States economy, Harris cited the Biden administration’s record for credibility.
The phrasing of Harris’s answer here was interesting, not claiming to have met a record low but still praising the government’s efforts to put Americans in employment.
Indeed, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data shows that the unemployment rates in 2024 across all Americans aged 16 or over have been at historic lows. Seasonally adjusted figures show that during the Biden administration, the unemployment rate for Black or African American workers reached its lowest level since recording began, reaching 4.8 percent in April 2023.
However, the unemployment rate has increased for many groups compared to a year ago. The rate has risen by 0.3 percentage points between September 2023 and September 2024 for the civilian population, seasonally adjusted, with increases among White, Asian and Hispanic populations. The unemployment rate of Americans without a high school diploma has increased by 1.3 points in that time.
“We now have an economy that is thriving by all macroeconomic measures.”
On the same thread, Harris claimed that indicators by which the economy is measured are booming.
There are results from some key indicators that any politician would wish to celebrate. Compared to other leading world economies, the United States has seen the highest increase in GDP growth against pre-pandemic levels, outperforming Canada, Japan, Germany, the eurozone and the United Kingdom.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund have both predicted that the U.S.’s real GDP growth will be 2.6 percent in 2024, outpacing all G7 nations.
Unemployment rates are low, if not at record low, and increases in personal income from April 2024 to August 2024 have largely outpaced or matched increases in personal consumption expenditures.
However, several economic statistics compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis show other areas are not “thriving.”
The U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services deficit continues to increase, as does the international transaction deficit. As mentioned, while the unemployment rate is low, year-on-year, it has increased in 2024 among many groups of American citizens. While the administration’s record on the economy has been positive, as the data shows, suggesting outperformance across all measures is misleading.
Newsweek reached out to Harris’ team via email for comment.
“So the other economists who have reviewed my plan versus my opponent’s have determined that my economic plan would strengthen America’s economy while his would weaken it.”
Whitaker challenged Harris that “it is estimated by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that your economic plan would add $3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.” Harris responded with a claim repeated throughout her campaign that Newsweek has previously examined.
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey in September, Harris pinned down who she was referring to, saying, “Goldman Sachs…Moody’s…Wharton School of Business…16 Nobel laureates have collectively determined after analyzing our plans…mine would strengthen the economy while his would weaken it.”
While a Goldman Sachs report did come out in favor of Harris, the investment bank’s CEO, David Solomon, subsequently said that Harris had exaggerated its findings. Harris was on firmer ground with her claim about the laureates. While they credited the policies specifically of President Joe Biden, describing them as “vastly superior,” Harris could reasonably point out that she is a part of that administration and therefore represents some degree of continuity here.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, told Newsweek that Harris’ comments were consistent with its research. However, the Wharton School of Business findings were far more nuanced than Harris implied, as Newsweek discovered.
In a report released this week, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget stated that Harris’ policies would increase the national debt by $3.50 trillion by FY 2035, assuming a central estimate.
This would come from $7.25 trillion in deficit-increasing measures, $4.25 trillion in deficit-reducing actions, and an additional $500 billion in interest costs. On the lower end, her proposals could avoid adding to the debt, but under the high-cost scenario, the debt could increase by as much as $8.10 trillion.
However, Trump’s policy proposals are projected to add $7.50 trillion to the debt under the central estimate, stemming from $10.20 trillion in deficit-increasing measures, $3.70 trillion in deficit-reducing efforts, and $1 trillion in interest.
Under a more optimistic, low-cost scenario, his plans would add $1.45 trillion to the debt, while the high-cost scenario could see an increase of $15.15 trillion by 2035.
“We have cut the flow of illegal immigration by half.”
Some data supports this, but it does not give the full picture. Since March, the number of monthly Southwest land border encounters has substantially and consistently fallen compared to statistics from the previous year. In August 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded 107,503 encounters, compared to 232,963 in August 2023.
The number of encounters has fallen from a high of 301,982 in December 2023, further supporting Harris’ claim.
However, immigration remains higher than when Biden took office in January 2021. Statistics hint that encounters might decrease in fiscal year 2024, compared to all other years of the Biden presidency. Nonetheless, Harris’ claim did not fully describe the background.
“We have cut the flow of fentanyl by half.”
It is not clear what data this is based on. CBP figures show that fentanyl seizures by the pound increased year-on-year between fiscal year 2021 to 2023. Furthermore, while the number of fentanyl seizures in 2024 year-to-date is lower than during the same period in 2023, the weight of drugs seized has not halved.
In 2024, there have been some months when the seizure figures have been half what they were the same month in 2023. Agents seized more than or close to half the amount of fentanyl in weight in February, March, April, and June 2024 than in those months last year. By that same token, there were significant increases in July and January 2024 compared to those months in 2023.
Newsweek reached out to a Harris representative for data to support this claim.
