CNBC’s Joe Kernan didn’t sit back and take New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s liberal talking points lightly on Thursday, grilling the progressive Democrat on Vice President Kamala Harris’s policies and how they would tank America’s economy if she wins next week’s election.

A bespectacled Murphy sat patiently as the “Squawk Box” host grilled him on “getting rid of private insurance,” taxing unrealized gains and nationalizing the U.S. energy grid, all positions Harris takes today or has taken during previous campaigns in her long political career. Instituting mandatory gun buybacks, decriminalizing border crossings, and ending cash bail were just some of the others cited by Kernan as he challenged his guest to explain why Harris is the commonsense choice this year. “What are your favorite proposals from Kamala Harris that make you like her so much?” Kernan asked.

(VOTE: Should JD Vance Run For President In 2028?)

“Joe, for a Jersey guy you sound like you’re on the Trump campaign for crying out loud. C’mon, man!” Murphy exclaimed with a diplomatic laugh. “You’re cherry picking stuff!” Kernan then asked the governor to go down the list, starting with ending the Senate filibuster. “Are you in favor?” he asked again. “I’m not sure on the filibuster, honestly, but I think fair tax policy is sensible,” Murphy replied. Asked by Kernan to clarify what he thinks is “fair,” the Democrat replied lamely, “Fair means you pay what you should pay.”

“Well you know I live in your state, Governor. Do you think if I pay fifty-five percent total that’s fair for me, or do I need to pay eighty percent? What would be fair for you?” the host pressed. After repeating that Kernan “sounds like you’re on the Trump campaign,” Gov. Murphy admitted, “I don’t know what the right number is.” Instead, he pointed to New Jersey’s millionaires tax passed in 2019. “Everybody, Joe, including you said it would drive people out of New Jersey. We have more millionaires today than we’ve ever had in our history. So tax fairness isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

Kernan wasn’t buying it and asked his guest if he thinks the U.S. tax system “isn’t progressive enough” and whether he agrees that unrealized gains in the stock market should be taxed. Gov. Murphy admitted he “isn’t wild” about the proposal, a sign of how deeply unpopular some of the vice president’s past or current positions have become. What he is wild about, said the Democrat, is “a democracy that works.” When Kernan noted that President Joe Biden “weaponized the justice system” to prosecute Trump, Murphy shook his head in defeat. “I mean, come on, Joe, come on. You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

WATCH:

💥 New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Gets Roasted by Squawk Box’s Joe Kernen

“I live in your state Governor. Do you think if I pay 55% total [in taxes] is that fair for me, or do I need to pay 80%? What would be fair for you?”@JoeSquawk pic.twitter.com/dlt0dDApEq

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) October 30, 2024

CNBC hasn’t been the only mainstream outlet to cover radical positions taken by Harris over the years. CNN first obtained questionnaires completed by Harris ask she sought endorsements from special interest groups during her previous campaigns for district attorney and later attorney general of California. Among her answers were affirmations about using taxpayer dollars to pay for gender reassignment surgeries for felonious inmates. That discovery prompted host Erin Burnett to ask out loud, “She really said that?”

(BREAKING: Gold’s Bull Market Is Just Getting Started. Don’t Get Left Out)