'That's Not Controversial': PBS Endorses Harris's D.C. Statehood, Court Packing Schemes

Alex Christy
August 1st, 2026 9:33 AM

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The main Democratic and media—but we repeat ourselves—conceit of the 2024 election that voters saw straight through was that former Vice President Kamala Harris is some sort of a moderate. Harris recently proved voters right again in a recent statement where she endorsed statehood for Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, expanding the Supreme Court to 13 justices, and the need to “revisit” the Electoral College. However, on Friday’s PBS News Hour, The Atlantic staff writer David Brooks and MS NOW host Jonathan Capehart agreed, "That's not controversial.”

Moderator Geoff Bennett teed up Brooks by playing a clip of Harris insisting, “We need to revisit the Electoral College. We need to revisit the point of expanding the Court to 13 justices, like we have 13 district courts. We need to revisit, if they so want, statehood for Puerto Rico and D.C.”

 

 

Bennett was not interested in examining the radical aspects of those proposals. Instead, he wondered if it showed Harris was in tune with the Democratic base, “So that's the thing. Democrats are saying they want a candidate who will fight for the things that Democrats say they care about. What do you make of that message?”

Brooks began his response by declaring, “Statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico, the two most Democratic areas in our whole country? It's not exactly controversial.”

While Brooks did not explicitly endorse court packing or nuking the Electoral College, it is noteworthy that the supposedly conservative half of Brooks and Capehart also did not denounce it. Instead he launched into an ode to Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale for fighting the far-left as well as Republicans before adding, “To me, that's the crucial issue, because if you let the DSA define the Democratic Party, which is in danger of happening, that's problems.”

Whether you slap the DSA label on it or not, Harris’s remarks were not “mainstream” in any sense.

As it was, Bennett then turned to Capehart with another question that was less about the substance of Harris’s remarks than it should’ve been, “Is the disconnect — or, rather, is the divide, the perceived divide within the party, is it about ideology, or is it about Democrats wanting a candidate who is less managed, less cautious, less institutional?”

 

 

Capehart answered, “It's that. I mean, you take a look at what Senator Ossoff, is doing in Georgia, running for reelection. He is pulling no punches. He is speaking in language that I never thought I would hear a senator from Georgia running for reelection in at the time of a very close — seemingly a very close race.”

Returning to Harris, Capehart claimed that not only is D.C. statehood not controversial, neither is court packing, “But, to David's point, D.C. statehood, that's not controversial. Expanding the court, she's a former attorney general of California. That's not controversial. The Electoral College, she has been about — she's supported that for a very long time.”

He added, “What I would like to hear from her and other folks who we talk about running for the Democratic nomination is, what are they going to — what are their ideas for the economy? What are their ideas for fixing democracy? What are their ideas for holding people accountable who wrecked everything?”

Campaigning on D.C. statehood, eliminating the Electoral College, and expanding the Supreme Court is a sign someone is insatiably power drunk and that when PBS endorses it, it is just proof that their concerns about there being too much power in the hands of the president is something they only care about when it comes to Republicans.

Here is a transcript for the July 31 show:

PBS News Hour

7/31/2026

7:39 PM ET

KAMALA HARRIS: We need to revisit the Electoral College. We need to revisit the point of expanding the Court to 13 justices, like we have 13 district courts. We need to revisit, if they so want, statehood for Puerto Rico and D.C.

GEOFF BENNETT: So that's the thing. Democrats are saying they want a candidate who will fight for the things that Democrats say they care about. What do you make of that message?

DAVID BROOKS: Statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico, the two most Democratic areas in our whole country? It's not exactly controversial.

I think the Democratic Party became great by fighting a two-front war. They fight the Republicans, obviously, but they also fight the left. Hubert Humphrey, for example, in Minnesota in the 1940s fought off the Republicans. He also fought off the communists in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

The Democratic mainstream now has the opportunity to do that. And when you do that, first, you show how tough you are, because it's easy to fight the Republicans. To fight the left is a lot harder. And, two, you figure out what you believe. You say, I'm further left than those guys, but I'm not as far left as those guys. This is what I believe.

What Hubert Humphrey did, what Walter Mondale did, that hardened a generation of Democratic politicians. To me, that's the crucial issue, because if you let the DSA define the Democratic Party, which is in danger of happening, that's problems.

BENNETT: Is the disconnect — or, rather, is the divide, the perceived divide within the party, is it about ideology, or is it about Democrats wanting a candidate who is less managed, less cautious, less institutional?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: It's that. I mean, you take a look at what Senator Ossoff, is doing in Georgia, running for reelection. He is pulling no punches. He is speaking in language that I never thought I would hear a senator from Georgia running for reelection in at the time of a very close — seemingly a very close race.

I think, with Vice President Harris, one, I would love to see the context of what those comments were, and then to hear the entire conversation, because we — what I don't know is maybe she did talk about a whole bunch of other things that gets to David's point.

But, to David's point, D.C. statehood, that's not controversial. Expanding the court, she's a former attorney general of California. That's not controversial. The Electoral College, she has been about — she's supported that for a very long time.

What I would like to hear from her and other folks who we talk about running for the Democratic nomination is, what are they going to — what are their ideas for the economy? What are their ideas for fixing democracy? What are their ideas for holding people accountable who wrecked everything?

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