By EFE
Aug 30, 2024, 07:41 AM EDT
Washington – US Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday sat down for her first in-depth interview since being named the Democratic candidate for the White House, staunchly defending her principles throughout her career: “I have the same values,” she said.
Since Joe Biden abandoned his bid for a second term on July 21, he had spoken to reporters and even influencers, but this was his first formal face-to-face meeting with a media outlet. He chose CNN in a recorded speech in which he was accompanied by his running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
In Savannah, in the key state of Georgia, where Harris and Walz began a two-day bus tour on Wednesday, she was forced to assure that her political evolution, from her time as California attorney general, senator or vice president, did not imply a change of 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, her values remain intact.
“The most important and significant aspect of my political perspective and decisions is that my values have not changed,” she said when asked about her change of heart 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 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.”
Promises plan for an “economy of opportunities”
This first interview offered her the opportunity to emphasize that on her first day as president she will implement the plan in favor of an “economy of opportunities,” in line with what she said is one of her 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 said in the interview that Biden offered his support for her candidacy to lead the Democratic Party during the same call in which the president announced his decision to withdraw.
Harris’ presence in Georgia reflects the electoral importance of that state. Harris is leading the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), but not by more than two points, according to the latest polls published on the FiveThirtyEight polling website.
Before the full broadcast of the interview, Trump had criticised both her demeanour and the advance answers. “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 Korean) 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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