Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear compared Vice President Kamala Harris’s much-maligned Friday economic rollout to President Teddy Roosevelt’s 20th Century campaign against corporate monopolies.
Beshear joined Face the Nation on CBS Sunday morning to defend a speech that was panned by CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times – among others.
Harris was speaking to voters in North Carolina on Friday when she attributed record food prices on corporate greed and “price gouging.”
“I will work to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food,” Harris said. “My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules, and we will support smaller food businesses that are trying to play by the rules and get ahead.”
The Post‘s editorial board branded Harris’s pitch to voters a “disappointment” and added, “’Price gouging’ is not causing inflation.”
The board added, “Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech Friday was an opportunity to get specific with voters about how a Harris presidency would manage an economy that many feel is not working well for them. Unfortunately, instead of delivering a substantial plan, she squandered the moment on populist gimmicks.
Sunday, host Margaret Brennan made note of the backlash and asked Beshear if he could defend Harris’s remarks.
“I do because I’ve been an attorney general, just like the Vice President, I pursued price gouging statutes and their violations when it comes to the price of gas in Kentucky, and we won and ultimately returned millions of dollars to our people,” he said. “This isn’t about trying to price fix. It’s just making sure that the economy is operating the way it should, that this is really supply and demand, which we all respect.
Pressed further on the issue, Beshear added:
It’s no different than what Teddy Roosevelt did in breaking up monopolies. It’s just making sure we have the right regulations and tools in place to make sure everybody is playing the game fairly and by the rules. So, you have to have the evidence that this is beyond supply and demand, that this is people taking advantage of us. Certainly, we’ve seen it after natural disasters in red states and blue states. It’s just making sure that coming out of the pandemic or in difficult times. That people aren’t increasing the price of food just to make a bigger profit.
Beshear, who was floated as a potential running mate for Harris, concluded, “All it is is making sure that capitalism stays within the guardrails. And it’s not new. We’ve been doing this in the states for a long time.”
Watch above via CBS News.
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