Harris Defends Policy Shifts on Key Issues in First Interview
US Vice-President Kamala Harris defended changing her mind on key issues in her first interview since entering the presidential race.
The Democratic nominee was pressed on why her policies on immigration and fracking have changed since she ran for president in 2019.
"I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed," she told CNN's Dana Bash.
Ms Harris was under pressure to finally face questions but she shared the 27-minute, pre-recorded interview with her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Her Republican opponent Donald Trump used a single-word in his review after it concluded.
"BORING!!!" the former president wrote on Truth Social.
The vice-president was forced to defend the White House's economic track record, as inflation and high cost-of-living prices continue to sting American pocketbooks. Polls have regularly suggested that voters would prefer Republican candidate Donald Trump's handling of the economy.
But the most tense exchanges between Ms Harris and CNN interviewer Dana Bash centred on the assertion that the Democratic nominee's policy positions had undergone "changes" during her time as vice-president and as a presidential candidate.
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Harris questioned about fracking and climate change position
Ms Harris referred to her effort to address climate change and support of the Green New Deal, a Democratic proposal to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, as something that remains a steadfast value when pressured about her shifting policy positions.
"I have always believed, and I've worked on it, that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter," she said.
The vice-president pointed to the Biden administration's work on the Inflation Reduction Act, which funnelled hundreds of billions of dollars to renewable energy and electric vehicle tax credit and rebate programs.
"We have set goals for the United States of America, and by extension the globe, around when we should meet certain standards for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions."
Ms Harris did not explain her reversal on banning fracking - a technique for recovering gas and oil from shale rock used by an industry that is particularly strong in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Ms Harris had said that "there is no question I'm in favour of banning fracking" during a CNN town hall in 2019. But she has backpedalled on that view since becoming vice-president - even casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate on new fracking leases.
In the CNN interview on Thursday, she said: "As president, I will not ban fracking."
Brian Fallon, a campaign spokesperson, said on social media that the Biden administration's "clean energy investments have proven the ability to make progress on climate without those past stances".
Harris defends policy shifts on key issues in first interview
16 minutes ago
Mike Wendling and Max Matza
BBC News
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Watch key moments from Harris and Walz's CNN interview
US Vice-President Kamala Harris defended changing her mind on key issues in her first interview since entering the presidential race.
The Democratic nominee was pressed on why her policies on immigration and fracking have changed since she ran for president in 2019.
"I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed," she told CNN's Dana Bash.
Ms Harris was under pressure to finally face questions but she shared the 27-minute, pre-recorded interview with her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Her Republican opponent Donald Trump used a single-word in his review after it concluded.
"BORING!!!" the former president wrote on Truth Social.
The vice-president was forced to defend the White House's economic track record, as inflation and high cost-of-living prices continue to sting American pocketbooks. Polls have regularly suggested that voters would prefer Republican candidate Donald Trump's handling of the economy.
But the most tense exchanges between Ms Harris and CNN interviewer Dana Bash centred on the assertion that the Democratic nominee's policy positions had undergone "changes" during her time as vice-president and as a presidential candidate.
Harris questioned about fracking and climate change position
Ms Harris referred to her effort to address climate change and support of the Green New Deal, a Democratic proposal to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, as something that remains a steadfast value when pressured about her shifting policy positions.
"I have always believed, and I've worked on it, that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter," she said.
The vice-president pointed to the Biden administration's work on the Inflation Reduction Act, which funnelled hundreds of billions of dollars to renewable energy and electric vehicle tax credit and rebate programs.
"We have set goals for the United States of America, and by extension the globe, around when we should meet certain standards for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions."
Ms Harris did not explain her reversal on banning fracking - a technique for recovering gas and oil from shale rock used by an industry that is particularly strong in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
Ms Harris had said that "there is no question I'm in favour of banning fracking" during a CNN town hall in 2019. But she has backpedalled on that view since becoming vice-president - even casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate on new fracking leases.
In the CNN interview on Thursday, she said: "As president, I will not ban fracking."
Brian Fallon, a campaign spokesperson, said on social media that the Biden administration's "clean energy investments have proven the ability to make progress on climate without those past stances".
Harris adopts Biden policies on immigration and Gaza
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz arriving in Savannah, Georgia
Ms Harris once held more progressive immigration views as a senator and in her campaign for president in 2020. She had previously advocated for the closure of immigration detention centres and the decriminalisation of illegal crossings.
But on the subject of "securing our border" Ms Harris said "my values have not changed" and referenced her time "prosecuting transnational, criminal organisations" as California attorney general.
Earlier this year, the vice-president supported a hardline bipartisan border security deal that would have included hundreds of millions of dollars for border wall construction.
Trump pressured Republicans in Congress to kill the deal, but Ms Harris has promised to "sign it into law" if elected. She committed to passing it again during the CNN interview.
To explain her moderated immigration view, the Democratic nominee told CNN that her travels across the country as vice-president had made her "believe it is important to build consensus, and it is important to find a common place of understanding of where we can actually solve problems".
Along those lines, Ms Harris committed to include someone "who was a Republican" in her presidential cabinet. She said it would fulfill her promise to be a president “for all Americans”.
"I have spent my career inviting diversity of opinion. I think it’s important to have people at the table when some of the most important decisions are being made that have different views."
Ms Harris also was asked about the war in Gaza, and re-iterated the White House's position that both Israel and Hamas must "get a deal done" and that the Palestinians deserve to have their own country neighbouring Israel.
"This war must end, and we must get a deal that is about getting the hostages out," she said.
She would not commit to an arms embargo on Israel, as some on her party's left flank have demanded.
(Source:BBC)
