Does Kamala Harris support building a border wall? A new report says yes, but details are unclear. If a future President Harris decides to spend money on a wall, would local Pennsylvania Democrats be on board?

Despite an Axios headline declaring, “Harris flip-flops on building the border wall,” the answer isn’t clear.

It used to be that Democrats presented a united front against any talk of a border wall during the Trump years.

In 2017, Harris – then a freshman senator from California – vowed to block border wall funding calling it “stupid.” She later said the wall was “un-American” and  “a complete waste of taxpayer money.”

Pennsylvania Democrats, particularly those in the Delaware Valley, also found any notion of a border wall untenable.

“We should never confuse a concrete wall with border security,” said Sen. Bob Casey Jr. in 2019, who voted against pro-wall legislation.  He argued that “smart and effective” border security would better deter smugglers.

Rep. Madeline Dean (D-Montgomery) has repeatedly said a wall on the southern border would be costly and ineffective. She accused former President Donald Trump of going outside the law to get a wall built.

“I’m opposed to the wall; I think it’s a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money,” said Rep. Susan Wild (D-Lehigh) during a 2018 debate. She later called the wall proposal expensive and ineffective.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Delaware) mocked the Trump administration’s request for $5 billion to fund a wall. In a social media video, Scanlon said the cash could be used to repair the SEPTA system. After a visit to the border, Scanlon claimed there was no national security emergency.

And Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Chester) compared trying to come to an agreement with Trump on a budget for a border wall “like negotiating with a terrorist.”

But according to Axios, the politics are changing.

Axios’ reporting is based on Harris’ support for the bipartisan immigration bill that includes border wall funding. She’s also running a TV ad highlighting sections of border wall built by the Trump administration.

Axios used that information to report Harris backs funding a border wall, not any public statement from Harris on the matter.

In fact, Axios added, “Harris advisers note that the bipartisan border proposal didn’t include any new money to continue building the wall. It just extended the timeline to spend funds that had been appropriated during Trump’s last year as president.”

And the Washington Times reports her campaign says Harris “supports a broad immigration compromise that could include wall construction at some strategic points… Her campaign says that is completely different from Mr. Trump’s vision of hundreds of miles of border covered by a wall.”

Meanwhile, where are Pennsylvania Democrats?

Casey gave a full-throated endorsement of the bipartisan plan and said it would help secure the southern border by hiring more border patrol agents. He claimed border and national security issues were too important to ignore. “I urge my colleagues in both the Senate and House of Representatives to put politics aside and pass this bill quickly,” he said.

Does that mean he supports the provisions to build the wall? Casey did not respond to a request for comment.

Republicans urged voters not to believe the Democrats’ newfound support for border wall funding.

“No voters will be fooled by this transparent and fake posturing by Kamala Harris and Susan Wild. Extreme Democrats poured fuel on the open border blaze and they can’t lie their way out of that fact,” said NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella.

A spokesperson with Donald Trump’s campaign called Harris’ support “preposterous and false.” Karoline Leavitt cited Harris’s previous statements condemning the border wall and said her actions speak louder than words. “Kamala’s record proves she is pro-open border,” said Leavitt.