Biden / Harris

This week, Joe Biden announced California Senator Kamala Harris will be his running mate. The Left, Right & Center panel interprets the choice. Dorian Warren says this shows how the party has changed since 2016, she may mobilize more voters (especially as President Trump and the GOP attack her) and it says a lot about Biden’s leadership that he chose someone with whom he disagrees. Megan McArdle says she doesn’t see Harris bringing much to the ticket in terms of her policy stances or her legislative record, but this pick matters more than a normal presidency because she may succeed Biden if he runs for a second term.

Congress has settled into a stalemate over coronavirus aid so President Trump signed some executive orders in an attempt to support the economy. What will they do, and what will they not do? And is it even legal? And is it good politics? Indivar Dutta-Gupta (co-executive director of the Georgetown Center for Poverty & Inequality) joins to talk about the mechanics and risks of the executive order for a new unemployment insurance program and the executive order for a payroll tax holiday.

Last week, an assessment from the intelligence community reported Russian-linked entities are trying to boost President Trump for re-election and undermine Joe Biden, while China and Iran appear to prefer that Trump be defeated. Why would China prefer Biden over Trump? Patrick Chovanec says there are a lot of reasons, but it could because China has not found President Trump to be a reliable negotiator. What else does China want out of the election?