Kamala Harris went on a furious, expletive-filled tirade against Donald Trump over his plan to build a gaudy new ballroom at the White House.
Speaking on The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart podcast, the vice president began discussing how “destruction” of the political status quo is only worthwhile if it improves people’s lives, before veering off and attacking her 2024 election rival.
“I mean, are you f---ing kidding me? This guy wants to create a ballroom for his rich friends while completely turning a blind eye to the fact that babies are going to starve when the SNAP benefits end in just hours from now,” Harris said.
“I’m not going to be distracted by, ‘Oh, does the guy have a big f---ing hammer?’ What about those babies?”
Trump has faced widespread criticism for tearing down the East Wing of the White House to build his new ballroom.
The cost of the vanity project has ballooned, with Trump now expecting it to cost around $300 million at a time when millions of Americans are facing a cost-of-living crisis.
As Harris noted, the ballroom—which voters never asked for and Congress never officially approved—is going ahead just as federal food assistance, which around 40 million low-income Americans rely on, is set to lapse because of the government shutdown.
Enhanced subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act are also set to expire Saturday unless Congress somehow reaches a deal, which will also see healthcare costs sharply rise for millions.
The White House previously claimed the ballroom, paid for by donors, would be “almost identical” in architectural style to the main building and would require removing only a portion of the East Wing.
But the project has now seen the entire historic East Wing flattened, and the ballroom is now expected to span 90,000 square feet, nearly doubling the size of the main executive building.
During the interview, Stewart pushed Harris to explain how voters could persuade Democrats that “the system needs to be disrupted enough” to prevent a president from spending hundreds of millions on a ballroom while Americans risk having their basic food aid stripped.
“But John, let’s talk about $20 billion going to Argentina,” Harris replied, referencing bailout money Trump provided to his ally, Argentine President Javier Milei, to help save the South American country’s tanking economy.
“And it costs $8 billion to keep SNAP going for poor children? Come on. And taxpayer dollars, by the way,” she added.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
