Trump’s virtues, health care issues: Five takeaways from Kamala Harris’ Univision town hall

LAS VEGAS ― With just weeks until the general election, Vice President Kamala Harris made her case to Latino voters – a key demographic that Democrats are slightly losing ground with.

Harris fielded about a dozen questions from Latino voters from across the country during Thursday's "Noticias Univision Presents: Latinos Ask, Kamala Harris Responds” town hall. Topics ranged from how she will improve the health care system, the Biden administration’s response to the recent hurricanes to whether it’s fair that she’s now the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden stepped down.

And she was even asked to put politics aside and name three virtues about her opponent, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump. (Spoiler: She couldn’t.)

Around 100 Latinos, some who were flown from key battleground states like Wisconsin and Arizona, sat in a semicircle in stadium-style seating for the town hall. The attendees often asked questions that combined top issues facing the country: health care, housing, immigration and the economy.

The town hall comes as Harris is trying to appeal to Latino voters, including in key battleground states like Nevada and Arizona.

Although Harris holds the support of a majority of voters in those states – 57% in Arizona and 56% in Nevada, according to the USA TODAY/Suffolk University polls published this week – the vice president is still slightly trailing the support Biden got in the 2020 election in those states.

The polls found 38% of Latinos in Arizona and 40% of Latinos in Nevada plan to vote or lean towards Trump.

Nationally, 54% of registered Latino voters support Harris, while 40% support Trump, according to a NBC News/Telemundo/CNBC poll released in late September. Six percent said they were unsure or wouldn’t vote.

The administration’s Hurricane response and disinformation

As another hurricane barreled into Florida ? less than two weeks after Helene hit the Sunshine State, Georgia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina ? Harris was asked about the Biden administration’s response to the catastrophic storms. She was also asked about whether FEMA assistance and other resources are being distributed accurately.

Harris said there has been a lot of disinformation on what the administration has been doing to help communities who have been ravaged by the storms, saying “this is not a time for people to put politics.” She criticized the notion that resources and support are only going to certain people based on political agenda.

She noted the administration is working with local and state governments in states like Georgia, North Carolina and Florida, with both Republicans and Democrats in the states, to ensure communities get the resources that are needed to recover from the storms.

“They are entitled to relief,” Harris told town hall attendee Ramiro Gonzalez, who is from Miami.

How Harris will address an array of health care issues

An issue at the top of mind of many of the attendees of the town hall: health care.

One attendee, Ivett Castillo, of Las Vegas, told Harris, just like the vice president, she lost her mother. Holding back tears, Castillo explained she died six weeks ago. While she lived in the United States for decades, she was not a U.S. citizen – and therefore did not have good health care.

Francisco Medina, of San Diego, Calif., asked Harris how she would improve the health care system after he was forced to go to Mexico to receive care. And another woman, Martha Rodriguez, talked about her experience with long COVID after a heart attack and homelessness as a result.

Harris touted the Biden administration’s efforts to lower insulin costs for seniors, and how there’s still more to lower costs for people (especially as Latinos have high rates of diabetes, Harris said.) Harris also criticized Trump, saying that he supports extreme proposals that would lead to more people being denied health care because of pre-existing conditions.

In regards to Rodriguez, Harris also said she’s working to help wipe away medical debt.

As she was walking out following the town hall’s conclusion, Harris stopped by Castillo. The two held hands as Harris spoke with her before exiting the stage.

How could Harris be the Democratic nominee, one attendee asked

One undecided voter, Mario Sigbaum, of Santa Monica, Calif., made it clear he was upset. He was upset that Biden was pushed out by the Democratic Party. And he didn’t understand how Harris became the name at the top of the ticket.

Harris was quick to thank Sigbaum for being so “candid” with his question, and praised Biden for his "decision that I think history will show was probably one of the most courageous that a president could make."

She said she earned the nomination and has the backing of a diverse coalition, both by Democrats and Republicans.

But what she underscored was that this election is unprecedented, so her candidacy was unprecedented.

“We are literally having a choice as the American people about choosing a path either that is about rule of law, democracy or something that is about admiring dictators,” Harris said.

The two top issues: Economy and immigration

Harris was also hit with questions about two issues that have been among the most important to Latinos, and Americans generally: the economy and immigration.

Harris was asked about the high cost of living and what she would do to help the middle class, especially for adults who have to take care of their children and their parents. Harris, who called that the “sandwich” generation, touted her recent Medicare plan to provide home care for seniors.

She also outlined her proposals to address price gouging from corporations, expanding the child tax credit, and her $25,000 first-time homebuyers down payment assistance proposal.

Harris also walked the line on how she would address immigration – both at the border and immigrants who have been living in the United States long term.

Harris said she would pass a defeated bipartisan border security bill that would increase border agents. She also advocated for comprehension immigration reform and finding a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children – known as “Dreamers,” based on legislation called the DREAM Act, which never passed Congress.

Harris was asked to name 3 virtues Trump has. She couldn’t.

In her final question at the town hall, Harris was asked to put politics aside.

Harris, who has often touted her support from a wide array of voters, including Republicans (she even did so at the town hall), was asked to name three virtues that Trump has. First, Harris began by saying that Trump has tried to divide the country by taking an “us vs. them” approach to Americans, and that he uses language and name calling that belittles people.

“I don't think that's healthy for our issues, and I don’t admire him,” Harris said.

But she tried to offer one compliment of the former president: “I think Donald Trump loves his family, and I think that's very important. Family is one of the most important things that you can prioritize.”

But, Harris conceded, she does not know Trump well. She has only met him one time, at the debate they had last month.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Five takeaways Kamala Harris’ Univision town hall