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Harris dings Trump’s ‘concept of a plan’ evasion during campaign event with Oprah Winfrey

Asked at the September 10 debate to reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to whether he had a health care plan, Donald Trump said he had the ‘concepts of a plan’

Kelly Rissman
Friday 20 September 2024 14:34 BST
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Harris takes a jab at Trump's 'concept of a plan' debate remark

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Vice President Kamala Harris took a jab at Donald Trump’s “concepts of a plan” debate remark and used it to promote her own economic policy.

The Democratic presidential nominee spoke to Oprah Winfrey at the “Unite for America” live-streamed rally in Michigan on Thursday evening about a wide-range of topics, including her small business plan, should she be elected in November.

“Part of my plan is to give startup small businesses a $50,000 tax deduction to start their small business. Right now it’s $5,000. Nobody can start a small business with $5,000,” the vice president said.

“That’s a teeny tiny business,” Oprah joked.

“It’s a concept of a business,” the vice president quipped, referring to a non-answer that Trump gave at the debate last week when asked about his health care plan.

Kamala Hassirs took a jibe at Donald Trump’s ‘concept of a plan’ statement during an interview with Oprah Winfrey at a Michigan rally
Kamala Hassirs took a jibe at Donald Trump’s ‘concept of a plan’ statement during an interview with Oprah Winfrey at a Michigan rally (AP)

During the September 10 debate, ABC News moderator Linsey Davis asked the former president whether he had a health care plan after he had vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act while in office, but failed to do so. In response, Trump went on a convoluted rant about his issues with Obamacare.

Davis then pressed: “So just a ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ you still do not have a plan?”

“I have concepts of a plan,” Trump replied. “I’m not president right now. But if we come up with something, I would only change it if we come up with something better and less expensive. And there are concepts and options we have to do that. And you’ll be hearing about it in the not-too-distant future.”

On Thursday, Harris referred to another revelation from the debate: her gun ownership.

“If somebody breaks into my house they’re getting shot,” Harris said, laughing, and added: “I probably should not have said that...my staff will deal with that later.”

Harris then added nuance to what she called a “false choice” about whether someone is either in favor of the second amendment or wanting to remove guns altogether.

“I’m in favor of the second amendment and I’m in favor of assault weapons bans, universal background checks, red flag laws,” Harris said. “These are just common sense.”

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