Kamala Harris said 19 words in 2018 that taught us all we need to know
Curious about what kind of candidate she’ll be? Her dismantling of Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearing is worth a rewatch.

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Perspective by Monica Hesse
July 22, 2024 at 4:50 p.m. EDT

Listen, nearly everything you need to know about the presidential candidacy of Kamala Harris can be summed up by 19 words she uttered at the 2018 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Harris, then a senator from California serving on the Judicial Committee, had used up several minutes trying to pin down Kavanaugh’s opinion on Roe v. Wade. Like nearly every senator on the topic, she was mostly unsuccessful. “I have not articulated a position on that,” Kavanaugh told her at one point, sidestepping the fact that articulating a position is precisely what she’d been asking him to do. Finally, in a cool and deliciously patient voice, Harris changed tactics:

“Can you think of any laws,” she asked the nominee, “that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?” ... “Um,” Kavanaugh replied, furrowing his brow. “I am happy to answer a more specific question, but — ”

“Male versus female,” Harris offered, smiling, and when Kavanaugh still expressed confusion, she repeated her 19-word question: “Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?” ... Kavanaugh responded, “I am not thinking of any right now.”

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By Monica Hesse
Monica Hesse is a columnist for The Washington Post's Style section, who frequently writes about gender and its impact on society. In 2022 she was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in the field of commentary. She's the author of several novels, most recently, "They Went Left." Twitter https://twitter.com/MonicaHesse