‘Is This Even Legal?!’ Critics Slam Kamala Harris Over Vow to ‘Snatch’ Patents After Resurfaced Vid Goes Viral

Critics pounced on a resurfaced clip of Vice President Kamala Harris bragging that she’ll have the government “snatch” patents away from drug companies in an effort to lower costs.

The 2019 video from CSPAN from a campaign event in Iowa featured Harris arguing for the government setting a “fair market.” Companies that don’t comply, she said, would be stripped of their patents if the drug company received any federal funding.

“For any drug where they fail to play by our rules, and if that drug came about from federal funding for what’s called ‘R and D,’ research and development, I will snatch their patent so that we will take over,” she said . “Yes we can do that! The question is, do you have the will to do it?”

“I have the will to do it,” the now Democratic nominee for president said.

In the first of several posts on X to go viral with the clip, filmmaker Eric Abbenante kicked off a slew of conservative and right wing users to describe Harris with the word “dictator.”

“The party frightened about the ‘threat to our democracy’ is nominating a wannabe tyrant,” he wrote.

“Well, this is crazy,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) wrote in reaction.

There were many such reactions, including from Emmy-winning actress Patricia Heaton , comic Tim Young , conservative writers like Dan McLaughlin and Guy Benson , and more. Many of the responses featured words like “dictator” or “communism.”

One former GOP communications staffer described Harris as “the queen of bad ideas.”

Harris argued in 2019 that a “fair market” price for drugs would be determined by the government based on an average of the cost worldwide.

“We are going to set drug prices based on fair market,” she said. “So, essentially what we’re going to do – and you can visit the website if you will, and if not, get you some documents – but essentially what we’re going to do is set drug prices so that American consumers are charged a price for drugs that’s the average price that’s being charged around the globe.”