Kamala Harris gives first interview as presidential candidate

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris defended abandoning some of her more liberal positions Thursday in her first major television interview of the presidential campaign, but she insisted her “values ​​haven’t changed” even as she’s “seeking consensus.”

Harris sat down with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, and was asked about her policy changes over the years, particularly her shifts on fracking and legalizing illegal border crossings.

Harris responded: “I think the most important and meaningful aspect of my policy views and decisions is that my values ​​have not changed.”

The interview with CNN’s Dana Bash gives Harris a chance to try to quell criticism that she eschews uncontrolled environments, while also giving her a new platform to define her campaign and test her political mettle ahead of a debate with former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10. But it comes with risks as her team tries to ride on the electoral momentum that followed Joe Biden’s withdrawal and last week’s Democratic National Convention.

“First and foremost, one of my top priorities is to do everything we can to strengthen and support the middle class,” Harris said. “When I look at the aspirations, the goals, and the aspirations of the American people, I think the people are ready for a new path forward.”

The CNN interview was recorded at Kim’s Cafe, a local black-owned restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, at 1:45 p.m. Thursday and aired that evening.

The former president said Harris “just happened to be black,” and Trump brushed off questions about Harris’ racial identity. Harris, who is of black and South Asian descent, said it was just “an old trick.”

“Next question.”

She also said she would nominate a Republican to her Cabinet if elected, though she has not yet decided on a name.

Joint interviews during election years are a political fixture; Biden and Harris, Trump and Mike Pence, Barack Obama and Biden — all have done joint interviews at similar stages of the campaign. The difference is that the other candidates have also done solo interviews. Harris has not given an in-depth interview since becoming party leader five weeks ago, though she did do several when she was Biden’s running mate.

Harris and Waltz are still introducing themselves to voters, unlike Trump and Biden, about whom there is almost universal knowledge and opinion.

Harris said serving alongside Biden was “one of the greatest honors of my career,” and she recalled the moment Biden called to tell her he was quitting and endorsed her.

During her time as vice president, Harris gave on-camera and print interviews to the Associated Press and many other media outlets with far greater frequency than the president — save for Biden’s late-stage media outreach after a poor debate performance ended his campaign.

Harris’ lack of media appearances over the past month has become one of the main attack points for the Republican Party. The Trump campaign has been counting the days she has not given an interview as a candidate and suggesting she needs a “babysitter,” which is why Waltz will be there.

Trump posted online: “I just saw Comrade Kamala Harris’ response to a very weakly worded question that was more defensive than curious, but her answer was incoherent and claimed that her ‘values ​​have not changed.'”

Trump has mostly chosen conservative media for interviews, but in recent weeks he has held more public news conferences in an attempt to regain the attention Harris attracted since her promotion.

Harris and Waltz traveled by bus for two days through southeast Georgia, culminating with an evening rally in Savannah. Harris campaign officials believe she must make gains in Republican strongholds across the state if she is to win the state in November and defeat Trump.

Gallup polls show that enthusiasm among Democrats for voting in November has surged over the past few months. About 80% of Democrats now say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting, compared with 55% in March.

That gives them an enthusiasm advantage they didn’t have earlier this year. Republican enthusiasm has grown much less over the same period, with about two-thirds of Republicans now saying they are more enthusiastic about voting than usual.

But inside a packed stadium Thursday, Harris portrayed her fledgling campaign as the underdog and encouraged the crowd to work toward electing her in November.

“We’re here to tell the truth, and one thing we know is that this is going to be a fierce competition,” she said.

Harris ticked off a list of Democratic concerns: that Trump would further restrict women’s rights after appointing three U.S. Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade; that he would dismantle the Affordable Care Act; and, given the new immunity the U.S. Supreme Court has granted the president, “imagine Donald Trump without his guardrails.”

Her rally was interrupted by demonstrators protesting US involvement in the war between Israel and Hamas.

The campaign hopes the events will energize voters in Republican-leaning areas that traditionally don’t see the candidate, and that they will become viral hits that break through the dense media coverage and reach voters across the country.

As the election approaches, Harris will re-launch her campaign with Biden in Detroit and Pittsburgh on Labor Day. The first mail-in ballots will be sent to voters in just two weeks.

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Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Sagar Meghani and Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.