GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Vice President Kamala Harris continued to avoid criticizing President Joe Biden on Friday, arguing that it is an American tradition for vice presidents not to disparage the commander in chief.
After delivering remarks at an afternoon campaign rally, Harris was asked by NBC News to identify one policy she would have pursued differently than Biden over the past three and a half years.
“To be completely honest with you, even including Mike Pence, vice presidents are not critical of their presidents. I think in terms of the tradition of it, and also just looking forward, it doesn’t make for a productive president. and important relationship,” Harris said.
Harris has come under fire from her Republican opponent Donald Trump for refusing to distance herself more forcefully from Biden, who remains unpopular in public opinion polls. Earlier this week, Biden said Harris would “take her own path” as president, separate from his, which was seen as a signal that he would not be upset if she created distance between them.
While Harris continued to decline to say one thing she would have done differently than Biden, she did point to examples of policies she would change if elected president. Harris pointed to her Medicare home care proposal, which would provide assistance to people caring for their sick family members. She also mentioned her priority to provide people with affordable housing.
Harris dismissed her critics, including Trump, and claimed the “joy” had disappeared from her campaign. “Oh, I’m having a great time,” she said.
She argued that her campaign can be optimistic about the future and “clear” in criticizing Trump.
“I am – like the people who are here – very optimistic about the future of our country,” she said. “That is not a conflict, but also a clear look at the danger that Donald Trump poses based on the language he has used and his admiration for dictators, his inability to really focus on the needs of the American people, especially the working people. , these things are not in conflict with each other.
During the interview with NBC News, Harris asked questions about the widening gender gap that shows Trump has the advantage among men.
“You can look at this audience and you can see that there are people of every background and gender showing up in the thousands, and I think it’s because they know that I intend to be a president for all Americans, and that is how I campaign to earn the vote of every American,” she said.
Pressed again about the gender gap and Trump’s dominance of male voters, Harris said, “It’s not the experience I have, to be honest.”
NBC News has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Both Harris and Trump have done targeted media interviews in the final weeks of the campaign.
Trump appeared on Fox News Friday morning and was recently featured on popular podcasts aimed at young men, including the shows Full Send, Bussin’ with the Boys and Flagrant. He also did a town hall at Univision and an interview with Bloomberg News.
On Sunday evening, however, Trump canceled an interview with NBC News’ Senior Business Correspondent Christine Romans on the economy — which was to include a walk-and-talk conversation and a 20-minute sit-down interview — that was to be taped. Monday; his campaign said it would reschedule but had not done so as of Friday afternoon.
He also canceled an interview with CNBC this week and decided not to participate in an interview with “60 Minutes” on CBS, which is traditional for a party’s presidential candidate.
Harris has been criticized for doing very few media interviews, but lately she’s been in the mix, including with less traditional media — including the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Howard Stern’s show, “The Shade Room” and Fox News.
In her remarks at her rally in Grand Rapids, Harris took aim at Trump by questioning the former president’s energy on the campaign trail.
“He, as we have seen, is only focused on himself, and now he is avoiding debates and canceling interviews. Come on,” Harris said, appearing to refer to interviews he apparently agreed to on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Harris continued: “His own campaign team recently said it was due to exhaustion. Well, if you’re exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you’re cut out for the toughest job in the world.”
The vice president has recently sharpened her attacks on Trump in terms of questioning his mental acuity.
Peter Alexander reported from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Rebecca Shabad from Washington.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
