In a campaign that has seemed to be led by vibes and memes, US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris announced more than a dozen economic policies at a small North Carolina rally in August. She outlined a proposed ban on price gouging for groceries, reducing prescription drug costs, a cancellation of medical debt, and tax reductions for mid- to low-income families—including a tax credit that would provide $6,000 (US) per child to families for the first year of a baby’s life.
The Washington Post called the policies an “aggressively populist agenda,” indicative of economic government intervention in the name of low-income families. CNN, Fortune, The Washington Examiner, and more echoed the “populist” description of her plans. The following week, The New Republic wrote that Joe Biden’s speech at the Democratic National Convention “brimmed with populism” and the (for now) president’s time in office has seen him courting and praising unions and labour movements loudly. Then there’s Tim Walz—an almost comically folksy former football coach and everyman—whom British political and culture magazine The New Statesman described as having “populist roots.”
