U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris gave her first sit-down interview Thursday with CNN’s Dana Bash, together with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) since her appearance at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month.
“My values have not changed,” Harris emphasized several times during the interview.
“The most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” she said.
Regarding the Green New Deal, Harris said she has “always believed and I’ve worked on it that the climate crisis is real. That it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.”
“We did that with the Inflation Reduction Act,” she added. “We have set goals for the United States of America and by extension, the globe around when we should meet, certain standards for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as an example.”
“That value has not changed,” she said.
“My value around what we need to do to secure our border” Harris said, “has not changed.”
She told CNN’s Bash that she “spent two terms as the attorney general of California, prosecuting transnational criminal organization, violations of American laws regarding the passage — illegal passage of guns, drugs, and human beings across our border. My values have not changed.”
But critics argue that her values have indeed changed and point to her flip-flops on the electric vehicle mandate, the border wall, decriminalizing border crossings, Medicare for all, mandatory gun buybacks, fracking, and offshore drilling.
Critics argue, for instance, that Harris has imposed an EV mandate which translates into American manufacturing jobs being transferred over to China.
She has governed as a San Francisco liberal, and critics are worried Harris will maintain the same policies as president even though she is trying to portray herself as more moderate leading up to Nov. 5.
Is Harris running away from her policies or is she starting fresh with a new perspective on the main issues?
That depends on whom you ask. The answer almost certainly runs divided along partisan lines with conservatives saying she is running away, trying to buy time before the elections. Liberals on the other hand, see in Harris a new chance for “hope and optimism” as Harris put it during the interview.
Asked what she would do her first day in office, Harris replied she would fight for the middle class.
The appropriate next question from Bash should have been related to why Harris is not doing that today as she is the vice president and it is her administration in the White House today.
Meaning, why is Harris waiting until Jan. 20 to make changes when she could already do so today?
Harris wants to bring down the cost of goods, invest in small businesses, help families with childcare, and invest in affordable housing, among other ideas.
Ultimately, this is a welfare scheme, which is not necessarily a great idea.
True, many Americans are struggling, and Harris has said “we’re not going back.”
But many Americans do want to go back when the economy was doing better, and housing was more affordable, and the cost of living was down.
Harris blamed it on former president Donald Trump, but her data might have been off.
Bash should have pushed back but she neglected to do so.
She could have noted Trump’s inflation rate when he left office was 1.4 percent, while today it stands at 3% under the Biden administration.
This is just one example. And there are several.
Meanwhile, Trump campaigned in Michigan before he headed to a town-hall-style event in Wisconsin moderated by former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
By not scheduling a major interview before now, Harris opened herself to complaints by Trump and some non-partisan observers that she is trying to dodge scrutiny.
Even NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd called out Harris for her mistake in avoiding the press and refusing to do any real interviews for nearly six weeks since President Joe Biden announced he would not be running for reelection.
Overall, Harris’s CNN interview was received well. While it is true that after President Biden’s debate performance the bar has been set dismally low, Harris did manage to raise that bar somewhat and provided the answers many of her supporters wanted to hear.
Her scheduled debate with Trump on Sep. 10 will further define this election race. Both candidates are polling at a dead heat, especially in many of the important swing states.
The next two months will prove intriguing as both campaigns work hard to appeal to as many people as possible.