Harris praises Andrew Yang's boldness for offering his Freedom Divident to 10 families

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Kamala Harris laughs as Andrew Yang eggs on the audience cheers during the debate in Houston.

During the latest Democratic debate, when Andrew Yang announced his plan to hold a drawing to find 10 families to give $1000 a month for a year, the microphones picked up the laughter of some of the other candidates.

Perhaps the loudest chuckle was coming from Sen. Kamala Harris, who had the lectern next to Yang. When Yang made his announcement during his opening statement, Yang and Harris acknowledged each other with Harris laughing and pointing at Yang and Yang opening his arms towards Harris, then cupping his ear to urge the audience to cheer louder.

Harris was laughing not at Yang, she was laughing at the sheer audacity of Yang's proposal, an announcement that has never occurred during a presidential forum or nationally televised debate.

"I admire and, frankly, take joy in hearing people with innovative ideas and who are questioning the status quo and willing to challenge it," Harris said in an interview with CNN's Alisyn Camerota on "New Day."

“I think that’s healthy for our democracy,” Harris continued. “And one of the things I like about Andrew Yang is he is constantly raising ideas and approaches that have not typically been on that debate stage, and I think he is challenging all of us to think about how we can be more innovative, and I admire that.”

"This is how we will get our country working for us again, the American people,” Yang said as he concluded his opening statement.

The audience cheered, but Harris' chuckling was picked up by a live mike as the camera panned down the row of candidates to Pete Buttigieg, who was heard saying, “It’s original, I’ll give you that.”

What the TV camera didn't show was Yang playing to the audience, cupping his ear to encourage the cheers and Harris laughing at his antics.

Some questioned the legality of using one's campaign funds to pay for Yang's proposal, but Yang's campaign aides said in a statement that they had consulted with their lawyers, who say the "Freedom Dividends are fully compliant with all FEC regulations."

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