Loading…
Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris
(D)
vs.
Donald J. Trump
Donald J. Trump
(R)
  • School Meals

    Donald J. Trump
    Harris (D)

    Kamala Harris is a vocal advocate healthy school meals for all students, emphasizing the importance of combating child hunger and ensuring every student has access to nutritious food so they are ready to learn. The Biden-Harris administration expanded access to school meals so five million more children in 3,000 schools could eat nourishing meals during the school year and made 21 million kids eligible for meals over the summer. Last year, Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz championed and signed legislation that provided free breakfast and lunch to all Minnesota public school students, reinforcing the Harris-Walz commitment to promoting equity in both education and nutrition.

    Source(s): New York Times, 8/13/24; Minnesota Reformer, 1/10/24; CNBC, 8/19/24.

    Donald J. Trump
    Trump (R)

    Donald Trump does not advocate for universal school meals for America’s students. His administration worked to reduce food assistance for hungry families, including scaling back Obama-era nutritional standards for school meals. Trump also worked in partnership with his Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to make changes to food assistance programs like SNAP that would have reduced access to free or low-cost school meals for 40,000 students. His Project 2025 plan recommends more hungry students and drastic funding cuts to school cafeteria budgets, stating that federal school meal programs “resemble entitlement programs.”

    Source(s): NPR, 9/8/24; The New York Times, 8/13/24; NPR, 2/19/20.

  • Donald J. Trump
    Harris (D)

    Vice President Harris champions efforts to increase funding for public education. In her role as President of the Senate, she cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the American Rescue plan—the single largest investment in public education in U.S. history. The plan increases educator pay, modernizes buildings, and ensures students have access to the internet and technology at home.

    Source(s): District Administration, 3/10/23

    Donald J. Trump
    Trump (R)

    Every year he was in office, Donald Trump proposed slashing billions in federal funding for public education. At the same time, he and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos proposed funneling more than $1 billion into private school vouchers and other school choice programs. Trump’s tax plan means educators would pay higher tax rates than millionaires.

    Source(s): The New York Times, 2/10/20; The Washington Post, 2/12/18

  • Donald J. Trump
    Harris (D)

    Vice President Harris is an advocate for providing students and educators with the mental health resources they need. The Biden-Harris administration has made major investments in mental health services through the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Harris recently announced that the administration will provide $285 million to hire around 14,000 mental health professionals to provide school-based support for children and families, with a focus on underserved communities.

    Source(s): WhiteHouse.gov, accessed 9/18/24; GLAAD.org, 8/9/24; K–12 Drive, 9/11/24; HHS.gov, 7/24/24

    Donald J. Trump
    Trump (R)

    While in office, Trump vowed to overturn the Affordable Care Act and increase the duration of short-term health plans, which would have reduced coverage of mental health and substance use services and reduce mental health parity.

    Source(s): KFF.org, 9/14/20

  • Donald J. Trump
    Harris (D)

    Vice President Harris leads the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. In 2022, the Biden-Harris administration passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, tightening background checks and keeping guns away from domestic abusers. Harris is committed to protecting students, schools, and communities by expanding background checks, closing the gun show loophole, and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

    Source(s): KamalaHarris.com, accessed 9/18/24; WhiteHouse.org, accessed 9/18/24; GLAAD.org, 8/9/24; ABC News, 9/22/23; Everytown.org, 7/13/23

    Donald J. Trump
    Trump (R)

    Trump proposed putting more guns in schools by arming teachers in response to school shootings. He bragged that he was the “most pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment president.” He vowed to expand gun owners’ rights and terminate all of the Biden-Harris gun regulations. The day after a school shooting in Perry, Iowa, Trump said the community needed to “get over it,” and his running mate JD Vance said school shootings are just “a fact of life.” 

    Source(s): NBC News, 4/14/23; Des Moines Register, 1/5/24; Politico, 2/9/24

  • Donald J. Trump
    Harris (D)

    Vice President Harris has championed student loan forgiveness, helping cancel debt for over 940,000 educators and public service workers through Public Service Loan Forgiveness reforms. She’s increased the maximum Pell Grant by $900—the largest increase in more than a decade—and invested in community colleges to make higher education more affordable. Also, as Attorney General, Harris took on for-profit colleges that were defrauding students and won.

    Source(s): USA Today, 9/27/23; KamalaHarris.com, accessed 9/18/24; NPR, 12/6/23; The News & Observer (Raleigh), 8/12/24

    Donald J. Trump
    Trump (R)

    As President, Trump continuously proposed eliminating funding for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. His Education Secretary, Betsy Devos, failed to cancel the debts of tens of thousands of borrowers the government already deemed entitled to relief—many of whom are women and people of color who attended predatory, for-profit colleges. Trump called the Biden-Harris administration’s loan forgiveness policies “vile.” His Project 2025 plan calls for undoing several loan forgiveness plans, including PSLF. 

    Source(s): The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/15/16; NBC News, 5/10/18; Forbes, 7/25/24; Forbes, 6/20/24

  • Donald J. Trump
    Harris (D)

    As co-chair of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, Harris directed federal agencies to strengthen partnerships with unions, making it easier to grow membership and organize. “When unions are strong, America is strong,” she said. Harris vows to sign landmark pro-union legislation, including the PRO Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, to protect workers’ rights to organize and bargain for better wages and working conditions.

    Source(s): Government Executive, 7/22/24; KamalaHarris.com, accessed 9/18/24; Government Executive, 4/20/23

    Donald J. Trump
    Trump (R)

    Trump has a history of catastrophic anti-worker policies. During his term, the National Labor Relations Board made it more difficult for workers who want to start a union to win representation at non-union workplaces. When a federal judge blocked his administration from undermining federal unions through a series of executive orders, Trump sought to challenge workers’ rights agency by agency, such as the Department of Education, where Secretary Betsy DeVos gutted a long-standing labor agreement, disparaging unions as “defenders of the status quo.”

    Source(s): CNN, 9/27/23; The Washington Post, 7/9/19; Newsweek, 9/2/18; OnLabor.org, 6/27/18; The Washington Post, 3/28/18

  • Donald J. Trump
    Harris (D)

    Harris criticizes groups like Moms for Liberty for “attacking the freedom to learn” and supports teaching accurate U.S. history, including racism and LGBTQ+ topics. In 2023, the Biden-Harris administration appointed a “book czar” to fight censorship. “We want to ban assault weapons, and they want to ban books. Can you imagine?” she told educators.

    Source(s): GLAAD.org, 8/9/24; K–12 Dive, 9/11/24; The 74, 9/14/23

    Donald J. Trump
    Trump (R)

    Trump called teaching about systemic racism “toxic propaganda” that will “destroy our country.” He favors schools teaching only traditional gender roles and promises to withhold federal funding from public schools that don’t fall in line.

    Source(s): Time, 9/29/20; The Washington Post, 11/8/23

  • Donald J. Trump
    Harris (D)

    Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are advocates for better opportunities for working Americans. They support raising the minimum wage, and providing paid leave, and have vowed to never raise taxes on households earning under $400,000. The Harris-Walz plan could deliver tax cuts to over 100 million working and middle-class Americans by restoring the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit. Harris also proposes ensuring the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations pay what they owe by rolling back Trump’s tax cuts for the rich, implementing a billionaire minimum tax, and increasing taxes on stock buybacks.

    Source(s): Axios, 8/14/24; New York Times, 8/14/24; New York Times, 7/21/24; KamalaHarris.com, accessed 9/18/24; ; NPR, 8/9/24

    Donald J. Trump
    Trump (R)

    Trump’s single term was characterized by a financial downturn exacerbated by his failure to lead during the pandemic; his Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which provided major tax breaks to corporations and the rich; and international trade policies that hurt U.S. industry while alienating America’s allies.

    Source(s): ABC News, 1/20/21

  • Donald J. Trump
    Harris (D)

    While in the Senate, Harris opposed the Trump administration’s drastic changes to Title IX, which narrowed the definition of sexual harassment, made it harder for victims to come forward, and reduced schools’ liability. The Biden-Harris administration has since updated Title IX to cover discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and discrimination against pregnant students and educators.

    Source(s): Judiciary.Senate.gov, 1/31/19; AP News, 4/19/24; New York Times, 8/1/24

    Donald J. Trump
    Trump (R)

    Trump’s interpretation of the law addressing sexual misconduct in schools and universities made it harder for victims of sexual misconduct to understand and exercise their rights. If reelected, said he would ban transgender women from participating in women’s sports nationwide.

    Source(s): CNN, 5/6/20; NBC News, 1/31/22