- Kamala Harris defends policies, engages in media blitz, and criticizes Trump
- She avoids labeling Netanyahu a “close ally” and stresses Ukraine’s involvement in peace talks
- Harris launches a media campaign amid a tight presidential race against Trump
During a wide-ranging interview that aired on Monday, Kamala Harris defended her economic policies, refused to name Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a close buddy, and stated that she would not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for peace negotiations unless Ukraine were also represented.
With the presidential race between Harris and Donald Trump effectively deadlocked, Harris has launched an unusually aggressive media campaign that includes popular podcasts, talk radio, a battleground state town hall, daytime television, late-night shows, and a network sit-down on CBS’s 60 Minutes prime-time election special.
Before the interview with Harris aired, CBS correspondent Scott Pelley described his attempts to arrange a comparable 60 Minutes interview with Trump.
“Unfortunately, Trump cancelled last week,” Pelley explained to the audience. He claimed that the Trump team had “shifting explanations” for why the Republican nominee declined to participate, including that he did not want to be fact-checked.
Instead, the network aired an interview with Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican who Pelley described as “paying the price for Trump’s claims of a stolen 2020 election.” The election official lost his primary in July to an opponent who described Maricopa County’s elections as a “laughing stock.
In an interview with CBS’s Bill Whitaker, Harris was questioned on how she would fund her economic policies, which include plans to build millions of additional housing units, tax incentives for new parents, and $25,000 down-payment help for new homebuyers. The vice president promised to boost taxes on the country’s millionaires and most prominent firms, a proposal Whitaker questioned.
We’re dealing with the real world here,” he remarked, questioning how she would persuade Congress to raise taxes on the nation’s wealthiest individuals. Harris asserted that if she were president, lawmakers would listen to her message.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a neutral group that favours lower deficits, released a report on Monday stating that Harris’ economic policies may increase the federal debt by up to $8.1 trillion by 2035 or have no effect at all. In contrast, Trump’s policies could increase the nation’s debt by up to $15.15 trillion over the same period.
“I cannot afford to be myopic in terms of how I think about strengthening America’s economy,” Harris stated during the interview. Let me tell you something. I am a devoted public servant. You know I’m a capitalist, and I understand the limitations of government.”
Harris skirted the contentious issue of whether Netanyahu was “a real close ally,” stating, “The better question is: Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people?” And the answer to that question is positive.”
The portion was posted on Sunday, ahead of the first anniversary of Hamas‘ deadly cross-border strike against Israel. In a clue that Harris will closely follow Biden’s foreign policy approach, the vice president stated that Israel has the right to defend itself while adding that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.” Israel’s war has devastated Gaza, killing around 42,000 Palestinians.
In a conversation regarding Ukraine’s future, Harris categorically rejected a bilateral meeting with Putin to discuss ending the war without involving the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “Without Ukraine?” “No,” Harris replied.
She also threatened that if Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. He mentions, ‘Oh, he can stop it on Day 1.’ You are aware of what that is. “It’s about surrender.”
During the interview, which was pre-recorded and aired in its entirety on Monday, Harris defended her ideological shift to the political centre, asserting, as she has previously, that her “values have not changed.”
She stated that travelling the country as vice president and attempting to enact bipartisan legislation in Congress had highlighted the importance of finding “common ground.”
“I believe in achieving consensus,” she stated.
Harris was also questioned about the gun she mentioned possessing during an engagement with Oprah Winfrey last month when she declared: “If somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot,” which elicited laughter from both the presenter and the audience. On 60 Minutes, Harris stated that she has a Glock. When asked if she had ever fired it, she smiled and responded, “Of course I have,” “At a shooting range. Yes.”
During the conversation, her running mate, Tim Walz, was asked where he and Harris disagreed.
Walz said Harris probably wished he was a “little more careful” with his public comments, with a shy smile. Since becoming the vice-presidential nominee, Walz has had to clarify several previous statements, including his description of his military service and whether he was in Hong Kong “when Tiananmen happened,” referring to the pro-democracy protests that culminated in the massacre of hundreds of people in June 1989.
Walz dismissed the statement during last week’s vice-presidential debate, calling himself a “knucklehead.” But Whitaker pressed him, asking if it was a distortion and if the American people could believe him.
Walz established a clear distinction between himself and Trump, calling him a “pathological liar” and stating that voters should have confidence in him.
“I will own up to being a knucklehead at times, but the folks closest to me know that I keep my word,” he told reporters.
The 60 Minutes interview was part of the Democratic ticket’s weeklong media campaign, which began with Harris’ participation on the Call Her Daddy podcast on Sunday. She also has a Univision town hall in Nevada set for Thursday, an interview with Howard Stern on Sirius XM, and appearances on The View and Late Night with Stephen Colbert. Walz made media appearances from Los Angeles, including on the SmartLess podcast and Jimmy Kimmel Live.
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Taken together, it indicates a significant shift in pace for the vice president after two and a half months of largely avoiding such exchanges.
Before boarding Air Force Two for New York on Monday afternoon, Harris answered a few questions from reporters.
When asked about a report that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rejected the vice president’s call to discuss recovery operations as the state prepares for Hurricane Milton, Harris accused the Republican of “playing political games”.
“These are the height of emergencies; it is utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish,” she told reporters.
She also called Trump “incredibly irresponsible” for distributing misleading information about the administration’s reaction to Hurricane Helene, which blasted across the southern Appalachians, killing more than 220 people in six states.
There’s a lot of mis- and disinformation being pushed out there by the former president about what is available, particularly to the survivors of Helene,” she informed us. “It’s extremely irresponsible.” It is about him. “It is not about you.”
Florida warned of a ‘possibly catastrophic’ effect from Hurricane Milton
