On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sat down for their first joint interview since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
It was a high-stakes moment for Harris in particular. She has faced criticism from Republicans and some in the media for largely avoiding questions from reporters since launching her presidential campaign in late July.
The interview was conducted by CNN’s Dana Bash and aired on Thursday night over the course of roughly 45 minutes.
Here are five key takeaways from the interview.
1. Harris addressed her shifting positions
Much has been made of Harris’ shifting positions since her 2020 presidential campaign, when she embraced a variety of progressive stances on climate change, immigration, and healthcare.
Bash pressed her first on climate change, asking about her past embrace of the Green New Deal and her support in 2019 for banning fracking.
“In 2020, I made very clear where I stand,” Harris said of fracking. “We are in 2024, and I’ve not changed that position, nor will I going forward. I kept my word, and I will keep my word.”
She explained that shift by talking about the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration’s signature climate bill.
“What I have seen is that we can grow, and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking,” she said.
When asked about her past support for “decriminalizing” the border, Harris pointed to her support — and pledge to revive — the bipartisan border bill Republicans killed earlier this year.
More broadly, Harris said her “values have not changed.”
Vice President Harris: My values have not changed. I’m the only person in this race who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations who traffic in guns, drugs, and human beings. I’m the only person in this race who actually served a border state as Attorney General to… pic.twitter.com/gu6bjc8420
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 30, 2024
2. Harris said she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet
Asked by Bash whether she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet, Harris said she would.
“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, different experiences,” Harris said. “And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my Cabinet who was a Republican.”
Q: Would you appoint a Republican to your Cabinet?Vice President Harris: Yes I would. I think it’s important to have different views and experiences at the table pic.twitter.com/RBcisQNyqV
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 29, 2024
While Biden has not appointed any Republicans to his Cabinet, it’s not unheard of.
Barack Obama and George Bush both had members of the opposite party in their Cabinets during their terms as president. Both Biden and former President Donald Trump appointed members of the opposite party to lower-level positions.
3. Walz addressed his controversies on military service and IVF
Since Walz became the vice presidential nominee, he has faced scrutiny over two aspects of his personal biography in particular: His characterizations of his military service and his apparent conflation of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intrauterine insemination (IUI).
Bash asked Walz about comments he made in 2018 in which he suggested he carried weapons in war, despite the fact that he was never deployed to a war zone as a member of the Minnesota National Guard. He made those remarks as he discussed his support for gun control measures. The Harris campaign has said Walz misspoke.
“I think people are coming to get to know me. I speak like they do. I speak candidly. I wear my emotions on my sleeves, and I speak especially passionately,” Walz said during Thursday’s interview.
Later, addressing Republican criticism, he added: “If it’s not this, it’s an attack on my children for showing love for me, or it’s an attack on my dog, I’m not going to do that.”
Walz has also suggested that he and his wife used IVF to conceive children. They actually used IUI.
They are both fertility treatments, but the process is different: IVF involves the fertilization — and potential discarding — of embryos outside of the womb, and is thus potentially threatened by anti-abortion laws, while IUI is not.
“I think most Americans get it, if you’ve been through that,” Walz said. “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.”
Gov. Walz: I spoke about our infertility issues because it’s hell, and families know this. That’s quite a contrast to folks who are trying to take those rights away from us. I think most Americans get it. The contrast could not be clearer between what we’re running against pic.twitter.com/HZWESYH9jX
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 30, 2024
4. Harris said there will be no change in US policy toward Israel
As pro-Palestinian protestors and other progressives push for an arms embargo on Israel, Harris said there would be no change in US policy towards Israel.
Harris also affirmed her support for a deal that would see the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, which is the Biden administration’s current position.
While Harris has largely hued to Biden’s approach to Israel, she has often sounded somewhat different than the president when talking about the conflict, including more forcefully highlighting the plight of Palestinians who have suffered and died as a result of Israel’s counteroffensive.
“Israel had a right — has a right to defend itself,” Harris said, but added: “How it does so matters. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
5. Harris described the moment Biden told her he’s dropping out of the race
Harris said that when Biden called her to inform her he would be dropping out of the race, she was doing a puzzle with her grandnieces.
“He told me what he had decided to do,” Harris said. “And I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’”
Harris also said Biden was very clear that he was going to support her campaign, but that she was more focused on him.
“My first thought was not about me, to be honest with you. My first thought was about him,” she said.
Kamala Harris describes the call when President Biden told her he would drop out of the presidential race:”He told me what he had decided to do. And I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ … He was very clear that he was going to support me.” pic.twitter.com/kssKaEfubO
— The Recount (@therecount) August 30, 2024
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