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    • Harris talks pivots and Trump in tense CNN interview
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    Harris talks pivots and Trump in tense CNN interview

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    WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday defended her shifting positions on border security and climate policy while vowing to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet during her first interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee for the 2024 presidential election.

    The interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash was recorded in the afternoon during a campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, amid ongoing criticism from Republican rival Donald Trump’s campaign over Harris having to wait nearly five weeks for formal interview questions from a reporter.

    That long wait meant that the stakes were higher than if a candidate were to interview a prominent journalist, especially since Election Day is just 67 days away.

    More: In CNN interview clips, Harris says values ​​’haven’t changed’ as policies change

    Harris, who has been rising in the polls since she entered the 2024 White House race, has yet to hold a news conference since taking over as the Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race on July 21.

    Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz joined Harris in the interview, a move that drew more criticism from Republicans. While a joint interview with a running mate follows precedent, Republican critics argued that her first interview as a candidate should have been solo.

    More: Exclusive: Kamala Harris Beats Donald Trump in Final Post-DNC Poll

    Day 1 priority? The middle class

    Harris said her priorities on “day one” would be to take measures to “support and strengthen the middle class.”

    She pointed to her recently announced plans to lower the cost of groceries through an anti-loan measure and expand affordable housing construction. She reiterated her campaign theme of igniting an “opportunity economy.”

    “It’s about, number one, implementing my plan for what I call an opportunity economy,” Harris said of her plans on the first day of her administration. “There are a number of things on day one.”

    Harris was asked whether “Bidenomics” — the former slogan of Biden’s economic agenda — has been a success.

    “I will say that’s good work. There’s more to do, but that’s good work,” Harris said, touting the Biden administration’s efforts to expand domestic manufacturing and provide tax credits to families with children to help lower the poverty rate.

    Harris speaks out on the back-and-forth issues

    Bash asked Harris about how her views have changed as a 2024 presidential candidate, compared to her time as a California senator and when she unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary for president in 2020.

    For example, Harris was a key sponsor of Green New Deal legislation in the Senate but has now distanced herself from some of the most aggressive measures. She previously said she supported a ban on fracking for natural gas extraction but now opposes such a ban.

    “I think the most important and significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is that my values ​​have not changed,” Harris told Bash.

    More: Harris campaign defends Walz in first interview, but receives backlash

    Of the Green New Deal, Harris said: “I’ve always believed — and I’ve worked to believe — that the climate crisis is real, that it’s an urgent issue that we need to apply metrics to that mean we hold ourselves to deadlines.”

    Harris pointed to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, one of President Joe Biden’s flagship bills, which includes incentives for electric vehicle manufacturing and other clean energy investments.

    “We have set targets for the United States of America and by extension the world, around when we have to meet certain standards for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, for example. That value has not changed,” she said.

    But when it comes to fracking, which has environmental concerns, Harris told Bash, “As president, I will not ban fracking.”

    On the border

    Harris also denies that her position on southern border security has changed.

    After opposing construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border as a 2020 presidential candidate, Harris supported the Biden administration’s bipartisan border legislation, which would allocate unspent dollars to continue construction of a border wall, among a host of other measures.

    The bill, which Senate Republicans stalled at Trump’s urging, sought to impose tough new restrictions on asylum seekers. Biden later took executive action to bar migrants who enter the country through ports of entry that are not legal.

    “My values ​​around what we need to do to secure our border. Those values ​​haven’t changed,” Harris said. “I spent two terms as attorney general of California prosecuting transnational criminal organizations, violating U.S. laws regarding the illegal movement of guns, drugs, and warning across our border, about my values.”

    A Republican appointment to the cabinet?

    Harris said she plans to add a Republican to her Cabinet if elected, continuing her theme from last week’s Democratic National Convention of being a president for “all Americans.”

    “I think it’s really important,” Harris said. “I’ve spent my career inviting diversity of opinion. I think it’s important to have people at the table when important decisions are being made who have different perspectives and experiences. And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my Cabinet who was a Republican.”

    When asked if she would nominate a specific Republican, Harris said she had “no one in particular” in mind.

    More: More than 200 Bush, McCain, Romney alumni support Harris for president, but criticize Trump

    ‘Same old, tired playbook’: Harris dismisses Trump’s doubts about her black identity

    Harris dismissed Trump’s recent criticism by questioning the black racial identity of Harris, who is half black and half Indian-American.

    “Same old, tired script,” Harris said. “Next question, please.”

    Last month, during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump said of Harris, “I didn’t know she was black until a number of years ago, when she happened to become black, and now she wants to be known as black.”

    Harris said she has never been in the same room with Trump. Harris and Trump will debate for the first time on Sept. 10.

    Reach Joey Garrison at X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.

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