Vice President Kamala Harris gave her first interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee on Thursday, discussing her 2025 agenda and a series of topics she has avoided so far, drawing immediate criticism from Republican rival Donald Trump.
Harris presented herself as a pragmatist in the highly anticipated interview, given to CNN’s Dana Bash alongside her running mate, Tim Walz. Harris sought to strike a balance between defending the legacy of the Biden-Harris administration and charting her own path if elected, while answering questions about how some of her policy positions have changed since she last ran for president.
“I believe it’s important to build consensus and find a common understanding of how we can actually solve problems,” Harris said.
Here are five key points from the interview.
Defending her changing positions
Harris has shifted her stance on several key issues since 2019, when she ran for president and tried to win over progressive Democratic voters by co-sponsoring Medicare for All, supporting a Green New Deal, calling for decriminalization of immigration and opposing hydraulic fracturing, a method of extracting natural gas or oil known as “fracking.”
“The most important and significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is that my values have not changed,” she said, adding that she still believes “the climate crisis is real” and that the White House has taken steps to address it with the Inflation Reduction Act.
On fracking, Harris said she promised during the 2020 vice presidential debate that she would not try to ban fracking, “and I will not do so in the future.” She continued, “I cast the deciding vote that actually raised fracking rents as vice president.”
(Harris said in her 2020 debate against Mike Pence that “Joe Biden will not ban fracking.”)
Harris added that “there can be a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking.”
Of those who cross the border illegally, she said, “I believe there should be consequences. We have laws that should be upheld and enforced that address and prosecute people who cross our border illegally.” She also criticized Trump for pressuring Republicans to scrap a bipartisan border security law.
“My value around what we need to do to secure our border — that value hasn’t changed. I spent two terms as attorney general of California prosecuting transnational criminal organizations,” she said.
Dismissing Trump’s Rhetoric About Her Race as Nonsense
Trump has attempted to attack Harris’ racial identity by falsely claiming that she previously identified as Indian-American and that she only recently began identifying as Black.
Harris did not respond.
“Same old, tired script,” she said. “Next question, please.”
Harris portrayed Trump as a politician from the past, calling him “someone who has really pushed an agenda and an environment that is designed to undermine the character and the strength of who we are as Americans, and that really divides our nation.”
“And I think people are ready to turn the page,” she continued.
It reflects the way Harris has approached the campaign since taking over from Biden last month: She is running her own race rather than focusing on what Trump says every day.
Her ‘Day One’ Agenda
Harris said her first day in office would involve implementing “my plan for what I call an opportunity economy,” citing her recent economic proposals to cut costs.
“Prices, especially for groceries, are still too high. The American people know that. I know that,” she said. “That’s why my agenda includes what we need to do to bring the price of groceries down — for example, by addressing a problem like price gouging.”
She continued: “What we need to do is extend the child tax credit to help young families care for their children in their most formative years. What we need to do to reduce the cost of housing — my proposal includes a $25,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.”
Asked why she hadn’t done those things before as vice president, Harris defended Biden’s record but said, “There’s more to do.” She also said she doesn’t regret her comments after the debate in late June that Biden could serve another four-year term. (Biden bowed to mounting pressure from within his party and withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, less than a month later.)
Trump lashes out at Harris’ answers
Trump responded on his social media platform ahead of the interview after watching a clip of Harris defending her new positions.
“I just saw Comrade Kamala Harris’ response to a very weakly worded question… her response was rambling and incoherent, stating that her ‘values have not changed.’ I agree, her values have not changed – the border will remain open, not closed, there will be free healthcare for illegal aliens, Sanctuary Cities, no bail, gun confiscation, zero fracking, a ban on gasoline-powered cars, private healthcare will be abolished, a 70-80% tax rate will be implemented, and she will dismantle the police,” he wrote. “America is becoming a DESERT!”
Walz: ‘I wear my emotions on my sleeve’
Walz defended his previous characterizations of his National Guard service, including the suggestion during a discussion of weapons policy that he served in combat. Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, himself a war veteran, accused him of “stolen valor.”
Walz, who said through a spokesman that he “misspoke” when he spoke about using weapons “in war” — elaborated on his comments, blaming those and other misstatements on his habit of speaking “passionately.”
“First of all, I’m incredibly proud. I’ve worn the uniform of this country for 24 years,” Walz said in the interview. “I wear my emotions on my sleeve, and I talk passionately about our children being shot in schools and around guns. So I think people know me. They know who I am. They know where my heart is.”
“If it’s not that, then it’s an attack on my children for showing love to me, or it’s an attack on my dog,” he said. “The one thing I will never do is belittle the service of another member in any way.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
