Vice President Kamala Harris gently tip-toed away from President Joe Biden‘s record while touting her own policy agenda during a hotly-anticipated joint interview with running mate Tim Walz on Thursday.
Harris, speaking to CNN‘s Dana Bash, offered a strong defense of Biden during her first sit-down interview as the Democratic presidential nominee while also highlighting policies that she argued would help the country “turn the page” on the past 10 years of American politics.
The vice president said that one of her “highest priorities” as president would be to “strengthen and support the middle class,” promising to begin enacting her economic policies on her first day in the Oval Office.
Vice President Kamala Harris and presidential campaign running mate Tim Walz are pictured together during a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 20, 2024. Harris and Walz sat down for their first joint interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday.
John Moore
“I think people are ready to turn the page,” said Harris. “Day one, it’s going to be about implementing my plan about what I call an opportunity economy. I’ve already laid out a number of proposals in that regard.”
Harris said that her “opportunity economy” would “bring down the cost of everyday goods” by combating “price gouging,” investing in “America’s small businesses,” expanding the child tax to $6,000 and offering a $25,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.
She went on to argue that the Biden administration had been forced to “rescue the economy” after it crashed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which she blamed on “mismanagement of that crisis” by former President Donald Trump.
“We had to recover [the economy],” Harris said. “I’m very proud of the work that we have done that has brought inflation down to less than 3 percent, the work that we have done to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors.”
“Donald Trump said that he was going to do a number of things, including allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices,” she added. “Never happened. We did it.”
Later in the interview, Harris doubled down on her defense of Biden following his disastrous June 27 debate with Trump, while calling her stint as Biden’s vice president “one of the greatest honors of my career.”
“He cares so deeply about the American people,” Harris said. “He is so smart and loyal to the American people… He has the intelligence, the commitment, and the judgment and disposition that I think the American people deserve in their president. By contrast, the former president has none of that.”
“I am so proud to have served as vice president to Joe Biden,” she continued. “I’m so proud to be running with Tim Walz for president of the United States and to bring America what I believe the American people deserve, which is a new way forward. And turn the page on the last decade.”
After Bash pushed back on Harris pledging to “turn the page” on a period that included over three years of the Biden administration, the vice president said that she was referring to “an era that started about a decade ago, where there is some suggestion… that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down.”
“Where I believe most Americans are… is to believe that the true measure of a leader is based on who you lift up,” she said. “That’s what’s at stake as much as any other detail that we could discuss in this election. “
Prior to the discussion with Bash, Harris faced fierce criticism from allies of Trump, her Republican opponent in November, for avoiding major interviews since becoming the Democratic nominee.
The Harris campaign’s decision to participate in a single joint interview on CNN before the end of the month instead of multiple interviews with different outlets placed enormous focus on Thursday’s discussion.
Harris was under pressure to avoid any missteps that Republicans could seize upon as potential meme material, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s remark calling Trump supporters “deplorables” during her 2016 campaign.
The vice president upended the presidential election on July 21, skyrocketing to the top of the Democratic ticket after Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joined the ticket two weeks later.
Amid increasing demands from Republican critics that she be interviewed, Harris told reporters at a campaign stop on August 8 that she had asked her team to schedule an interview “before the end of the month.”
Tuesday’s announcement of the interview with Bash did little to quell the criticism, with a number of the vice president’s detractors claiming that the CNN anchor was too friendly to ask any tough questions.
The Trump campaign also hit out at the interview being taped hours before airing, claiming that the delay was in place so that “handlers have time to play damage control.”
Harris faced further criticism for taking part in a joint interview with Walz instead of a solo appearance, with some Republicans describing her running mate as a “babysitter.”
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance has been particularly critical of the limited media appearances from Harris, even attempting to confront her in person over the issue while both were campaigning in Wisconsin earlier this month.
Vance has also accused Harris of running a “basement campaign” and refusing to “answer the tough questions,” while circulating the hashtag #wheresKamala on social media.
Vice President Kamala Harris is pictured during a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 22, 2024. Harris and running mate Tim Walz participated in their first joint sit-down interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday.
Andrew Harnik
Update 08/29/24 10:21 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
