Kamala Harris Responds To Listener's Question About Sending Money Overseas

On Tuesday (October 15), Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with Charlamagne Tha God for an hour-long discussion in Detroit.

During the " We the People: An Audio Town Hall with Kamala Harris ," the Vice President answered questions from listeners who submitted them via the Talkback function in the iHeartRadio app. One listener asked Harris to explain why the United States continues to send money to other countries while people in America continue to struggle.

Before Harris could answer, Charlamagne followed up by saying, "That's one of the reasons that the America First rhetoric resonates," referring to former President Donald Trump 's campaign rhetoric.

"Nobody in America would complain where money was going if American citizens' everyday needs were being met," he added.

Harris responded to the question by declaring, "We can do it all, and we do."

"First of all, I maintain very strongly that America should never pull ourselves away from our responsibility as a world leader. That is in the best interest of our national security and each one of us, as Americans, and our standing in the world," Harris explained.

"That being said, we also have an obligation to American citizens, obviously, and people who are here to meet their everyday needs and challenges, which is why, for example, we have done the work in the last four years of bringing down the cost of prescription medication, whether it be $35 a month for seniors for insulin, or $2,000 a year cap on prescription medication. What we have done is about putting $17 billion into our [historically black colleges (HBCU)]. I am proud to be the first HBCU Vice President of the United States, and I intend to be the first HBCU President of the United States. Those resources are about sending them to centers of academic excellence that I know them to be."

"The work I continue to do is about increasing access to capital for our small businesses. It is about increasing the opportunity for home ownership, knowing that Black people are 40% less likely to be homeowners in America. We have a history of legal and procedural obstacles to that homeownership, starting with the fact that nobody got 40 acres and a mule to redlining to issues that this Detroit area and people around the country know to be real."

"So part of my plan is that we are going to give people a $25,000 down payment assistance to get their foot in the door to buy a home for first-time home buyers. The work that I'm going to do to increase housing supply in America, knowing that's one of the reasons that rents and housing prices are jacked up. And work with the private sector to cut through the red tape and work to build more housing, three million, before the end of my first term."

"I give these examples, and there are many more, which I will offer, for example, the work I will do to extend the child tax credit to $6,000 for young families during the first year of their child's life because, as you and I both know, our families all have a natural desire to parent their children well but not always the resources. So, by expanding the child tax credit to the first year of a child's life to $6,000 that gives that young family the ability to buy a car seat or a crib or clothes, the things that are so important during that critical phase of that child's development so they can get on the road and actually have a chance at succeeding."

If you missed the interview, you can listen to it on-demand via the Breakfast Club podcast .