Harris defends her record in her first interview as a candidate

The Vice President Kamala Harris gave her first major interview on Thursday since becoming the Democratic nominee in the 2024 elections.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, were interviewed by CNN’s Dana Bash while campaigning in Georgia. The interview took place earlier in the day and aired on the cable network Thursday night.

Harris sought in the interview a balance between defending the legacy of the Biden-Harris administration and chart her own path if elected presidentwhile answering questions about how some of their political positions have changed since he last ran for president.

“I think it’s important to build consensus and it’s important to find a common ground of understanding on where we can actually solve problems,” Harris said.

The vice president said her political evolution, from her time as California attorney general, senator and vice president, did not imply a change in values ​​on issues such as immigration or climate change.

Harris added that although she has changed some of her positions since assuming the vice presidency in January 2021 alongside Biden, its values ​​remain intact.

“The most important and significant aspect of my political perspective and decisions is that my values ​​have not changed,” he said when asked about his shift on issues such as border security or hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’).

CNN journalist Dana Bash recalled how in September 2019 she was in favor of applying a federal ban on this technique to extract oil and gas from the ground on her first day in office. Once in power, she cast the decisive vote to expand contracts to use this technique and on Thursday she maintained that she will not veto it, something that is important for the key state of Pennsylvania.

Harris also defended the Biden administration’s more restrictive approach to immigration by limiting access to asylum: “There must be consequences (for illegal border crossings),” she said. “We have laws that must be enforced to deal with people who cross the border illegally.”

“Donald Trump killed our border security bill for political gain. It would have added more border agents and allowed us to increase fentanyl seizures. As president, I will make sure that bill comes back to my desk and sign it,” Harris said.

This first interview offered her the opportunity to underline that on her first day as president will implement the plan in favor of an “economy of opportunities”in line with what he said is one of his main priorities: “Supporting and strengthening the middle class.”

Since she became a candidate, there has been no shortage of criticism for not having undertaken during her mandate the measures planned as Biden’s eventual successor. “I came into office during the peak of the pandemic. Our priority was to do what we could to rescue the United States. (…) We had to recover first,” she said.

Harris assured in this interview that Biden offered his support for her candidacy to lead the Democratic Party on the same call in which the president announced that he had decided to retire.

Harris’ presence in Georgia reflects the electoral importance of that state. Harris leads Republican candidate Donald Trump in voting intentions there, but not by more than two points, according to the latest polls published on the FiveThirtyEight polling website.

Harris called Trump a politician of the past, and called him “someone who has really been pushing an agenda and an environment that is aimed at diminishing the character and the strength of who we are as Americans, really dividing our nation.”

“And I think people are ready to move on,” he continued.

Before the full broadcast of the interview, Trump had criticized both his demeanor and his advance responses“I don’t see her as a leader, to be honest. I don’t see her negotiating with President Xi (Jinping) of China or with (North Korea’s) Kim Jong-un,” he said at a meeting with voters in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Harris has been leading in voting intentions for weeks. According to the polling average compiled by the website FiveThirtyEight, she is ahead of the Republican candidate by 3.4 points, up to 47.1%.

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