WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris sat down for her first televised interview since becoming a 2024 presidential candidate Thursday, pushing back against criticism from the Trump campaign over pivots she has made to more moderate policies compared to those she ran on in the 2020 campaign.
Sitting with her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris was asked about changes in her policies over the years, specifically her reversals on fracking and decriminalizing illegal border crossings.
“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” Harris replied.
The interview was a chance for Harris to quell criticisms from the Trump campaign, including critiques that she had not sat for a media interview since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Harris also brushed off Trump's questioning of her racial identity after the former president said she “happened to turn Black.” Harris, who is of Black and South Asian heritage, said it was the “same old, tired playbook.”
"Next question."
It was also a chance for Harris to define herself as a candidate, with just over two months left before election day.
“First and foremost, one of my highest priorities is to do what we can to strengthen and support the middle class," Harris said. "When I look at the aspirations, the goals, the ambitions of the American people, I think that people are ready for a new way forward."
The interview drew its own criticism from Republicans, who accused Harris' VP candidate, Walz, of being a babysitter for the sitting vice president.
But joint interviews during an election year are a fixture in politics; Biden and Harris, Trump and Mike Pence, Barack Obama and Biden — all did them at a similar point in the race.
The difference is those other candidates had all done solo interviews, too. Harris hasn't yet done an in-depth interview since she became her party's standard bearer five weeks ago, though she did sit for several while she was still Biden's running mate.
Harris will get another chance to speak directly to Americans during a scheduled debate against Donald Trump on Sept. 10.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
