Vice President Kamala Harris did not shy away from addressing voters’ top concerns while appearing for her first sit-down interview in the 2024 presidential race.
During a roughly hour-long conversation with CNN‘s Dana Bash that aired Thursday night, Harris was pressed for her stances on issues ranging from inflation costs to foreign policy, while her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, fielded questions about his family and military experience.
Harris has faced pushback for not being abundantly clear on her administration’s policy agenda with just under 10 weeks until voters head to the polls. The vice president has flipped the script across national polling since launching her campaign, with most surveys showing her closing the gap with former President Donald Trump in the past five weeks.
But voters have indicated that they trust the former president on some of the most pressing issues impacting their day-to-day. In a recent poll from Bloomberg News and Morning Consult, 50 percent of registered voters said that they trust Trump to handle their concerns over the economy, while 43 percent put their trust in Harris.
The vice president trailed even further on the issue of immigration: while 53 percent of the 4,962 respondents said they trusted Trump’s policies along the U.S. southern border, just 39 percent said they backed Harris.
Other issues that poll top of voters’ minds include abortion and reproductive health care, which has remained a winning topic for Democrats. The survey from Bloomberg/Morning Consult also found that Harris was trusted more than Trump on issues like Social Security and Medicare (50 percent to 41 percent), housing (48 percent to 41 percent) and climate change (51 percent to 31 percent).
Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 22, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois. Harris TKTKTK
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Below is a breakdown of what Harris and Walz said about some of voters’ top issues while speaking with CNN.
Harris Vows to Tackle the Economy on Day One
The vice president said Wednesday that her first day in office would be focused on implementing what she calls an “opportunity economy,” touting her policy proposals to “bring down the cost of everyday goods.”
“What we’re going to do to invest in America’s small businesses, what we’re going to do to invest in families—for example, extending the child tax credit to $6,000 for families for the first year of their child’s life to help them buy a car seat, to help them buy baby clothes, a crib,” Harris told Bash.
Harris’ campaign previously outlined plans to tackle inflation by implementing a federal ban on “price gouging” as a way to bring down the costs of everyday goods—a policy that has raised questions from experts, and one that Trump has likened to “socialist” policies.
When asked how he would spend his first day in office, Walz told Bash that he is “excited about this agenda,” adding, “I think many of these things that the Vice President’s proposing are things that we share in values.” Walz’ state has one of the leading child tax credit policies in the country, offering a $1,750 credit per qualifying child since 2023.
Harris Praises Biden Administration Work on Job Creation
The vice president repeatedly pointed to achievements that the White House has reached under President Joe Biden during Wednesday’s interview, including focusing on job creation after America’s economy was struck by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Let’s start with the fact that when Joe Biden and I came in office during the height of a pandemic, we saw over 10 million jobs were lost…Hundreds of people a day were dying because of COVID. The economy had crashed, in large part, all of that because of mismanagement by Donald Trump,” Harris said.
In Biden’s three-and-a-half years in office, over 15 million jobs have been created, and unemployment declined by 2.1 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In comparison, 2.7 million jobs were lost during the Trump presidency, and unemployment rose from 4.7 percent to 6.4 percent when he left office.
Harris also touted her plans to lower housing costs for millions of Americans, including by offering qualifying first-time home buyers up to $25,000 in down payment assistance.
“My proposal includes what would be a tax credit of $25,000 for first-time home buyers so they can just have enough to put a down payment on a home, which is part of the American dream and their aspiration,” Harris said.
Harris Touts Her Work on Addressing Root Causes of Immigration
Harris was asked on Wednesday about her work in 2021 when she was tasked with addressing the root causes of migration from Central America. One of Republicans‘ biggest points of attack against Harris has been painting her as Biden’s “border czar” amid an uptick in illegal crossings across the U.S. border with Mexico, and immigration has stayed a winning issue for Trump throughout the 2024 election.
The vice president said that her work as vice president “has actually resulted in a number of benefits” in addressing the causes of immigration to the U.S., “including historic investments by American businesses in that region.” She also pivoted questions on the border to highlight the bipartisan border bill that was struck down by Republicans in the Senate earlier this year after Trump called it a “death wish” for his party. The bill in question would have increased the number of Border Patrol agents stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border and boosted ICE‘s detention capacity.
“I will say this, that Joe Biden and I and our administration worked with members of the United States Congress on an immigration issue that is very significant to the American people and to our security, which is the border,” Harris told Bash.
“And through bipartisan work, including some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress, a bill was crafted, which we supported, which I support. And Donald Trump got word of this bill that would have contributed to securing our border, and because he believes that it would not have helped him politically, he told his folks in Congress, ‘Don’t put it forward.'”
When asked about her past statements about decriminalizing the border, Harris said, “I believe there should be consequence. We have laws that have to be followed and enforced.”
Walz Speaks to America’s Concerns on Women’s Reproductive Care
Many of Bash’s questions were directed to the person running at the top of the ticket, although Walz was given a chance on Wednesday to address his family’s experience using fertility treatments to conceive his first daughter, Hope.
The governor has been open in the past about his and his wife’s experience with infertility, although he has faced some backlash for saying on the campaign trail that his family used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to conceive his daughter, a treatment that has been thrown onto the national stage in light of conversations around abortion access. Instead, Walz and his wife used intrauterine insemination, also known as I.U.I., which has key differences to IVF.
When asked about misspeaking in the past about his family’s journey with infertility, Walz told Bash that he “certainly own my mistakes when I make them.”
“The one thing I’ll tell you is I wish this country wouldn’t have to do this,” he continued. “I spoke about our infertility issues because it’s hell, and families know this. And I spoke about the treatments that were available to us, that that had those beautiful children there, that’s quite a contrast in folks that are trying to take those rights away from us.”
The governor said later on in his answer, “I think people know who I am.”
“The Vice President’s position on this has been clear, and I think most Americans get it if you’ve been through that,” he added. “I don’t think they’re cutting hairs on IVF or IUI. I think what they’re cutting hairs on is an abortion ban and the ability to be able to deny families the chance to have a beautiful child.”
Harris Thanks ‘Bideneconomics’ For Lowering Healthcare Costs for Seniors
In theme of asking the vice president about her past three-and-a-half years in office, Bash pressed Harris on whether she believes “Bideneconomics” is a success, a reference to how the Biden administration has tackled a number of issues ranging from inflation to health care.
Harris said that she is “very proud” of the Biden administration’s work “to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors,” adding, “Donald Trump said he was going to do a number of things, including allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Never happened. We did it.”
“I maintain that when we do the work of bringing down prescription medication for the American people, including capping the cost of the annual cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000…I’ll say that that’s good work,” Harris added.
Democrats have repeatedly accused Trump and Republicans of wanting to cut social services like Social Security and Medicare, a claim that the former president adamantly denies.
Harris States Again: She is No Longer Against Fracking
Another consistent point of attack from Trump’s team has been to highlight Harris’ past vows to ban fracking if elected to office. But the vice president told Bash on Wednesday that it has not been her opinion to ban fracking since appearing on a debate stage as Biden’s vice presidential pick in 2020.
“In 2020 I made very clear where I stand,” Harris told Bash. “We are in 2024 and I’m not changed that position, nor will I going forward. I kept my word, and I will keep my word.
Harris went on to tout her work to achieve the Biden administration’s clean energy goals by backing legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act or the Green New Deal.
“What we have done to invest, by my calculation, over probably a trillion dollars over the next 10 years, investing in a clean energy economy. What we’ve already done creating over 300,000 new clean energy jobs…What I have seen is that we can, we can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking,” she added.
Harris Stands Firm on Israel’s Right to Defend Itself
Despite consistent pressure from progressives in her party, Harris is standing firm on the Biden’s administration policies in Israel.
“Let me be very clear, I’m unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel’s defense and its ability to defend itself, and that’s not going to change,” the vice president told Bash, who asked Harris if she would be open to withholding weapons shipments to Israel in response to its military actions in the Gaza strip.
“Israel had a right, has a right to defend itself,” Harris said, referring to the Hamas attacks on October 7 which resulted in 1,200 people killed and roughly 250 others taken hostage.
Gazan health officials have reported that over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel responded, according to the Associated Press. The Biden administration, and now subsequently Harris, has been repeatedly pushed by pro-Palestinian activists to demand a ceasefire in the war in Gaza and withhold military aid for Israel in response to the death tool.
“Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed, and we have got to get a deal done,” Harris said Wednesday. “We have to get a deal done. This war must end, and we must get a deal that is about getting the hostages out.”
