Vice President Harris spoke with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle on Wednesday, answering questions about her economic policies, former President Trump's economic plans and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D).
The MSNBC interview was a friendly forum for Ms. Harris, who has been under pressure to expand her media presence and met with Ms. Ruhle in Pittsburgh after laying out her manufacturing policy framework in an economy-focused speech.
Here are five takeaways from Harris' interview on MSNBC.
Harris presents big-ticket agenda
The majority of the interview was devoted to talking about the economy, with Harris outlining her policies: her “opportunity economy,” including a housing plan to help first-time homebuyers, a child tax plan to expand the credit for families and a plan to boost small businesses with an entrepreneur tax credit.
“I believe if you work hard and have dreams, ambitions and aspirations, you're in my plans,” she said.
When it comes to how some of the programs would be paid for, Harris reiterated that she would not raise taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 a year — a pillar of President Biden's tax reform plan — but said businesses should pay their “fair share.”
Many of Harris' economic policies, particularly her tax policy, require Congress to approve them, and she would face an uphill battle if Congress is dominated by Republicans or if one or both houses of Congress are evenly split.
Ruhle asked the vice president about polls that show voters think Trump is doing a better job on the economy. Harris has recently closed the gap on the economy with Trump. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Policy Research poll found that Harris and Trump have equal support on the economy.
“Donald Trump left us with the worst economy since the Great Depression,” Harris said. Citing data About 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost during the Trump administration.
The choice of Waltz was an intuitive decision.
At the end of the interview, Ruhle asked Harris when was the last time she “made a gut decision,” saying presidential decisions require “extraordinary instinct and courage.”
“When was the last time you had to make a decision based on gut feeling? It's very prescribed here. It's very controlled,” Ruhle said when asked about the interview setting.
“The biggest instinctual decision I've made recently was choosing my running mate,” Harris said, referring to her decision to choose Walz as her running mate. “There were a lot of great, brilliant candidates, but ultimately it came down to an instinctual decision,” she said.
Harris picked Waltz in August, just a month after he announced his presidential candidacy.
Shortly before her nomination, Governor Harris had emerged as a dark horse for the post, beating out other prominent names such as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly (D), who had been considered for weeks as the favorite to be Harris' No. 2.
Harris criticizes Trump Customs Duties
Harris slammed proposals to impose tariffs on companies, a move Trump made repeatedly during the election campaign.
“Part of the problem with Donald Trump is that you can't just throw around the idea of across-the-board tariffs,” Harris said when Ruhle asked about the former president's plans to expand tariffs.
“He hasn't really taken some of these issues seriously,” Harris added. “He needs to get serious and come up with a real plan, not just talk at political rallies.”
Trump spoke about his plans to use tariffs after delivering an economy-focused speech in Pennsylvania this week in which he said he wanted to expand their use if elected.
He also threatened Illinois-based John Deere with huge tariffs on its products if it outsources some manufacturing to Mexico as previously announced.
Harris defends opposition to U.S. Steel sale
Harris defended her opposition to the deal after discussing the potential consequences if Ruhle blocks a takeover of U.S. Steel by Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel Corp.
U.S. Steel warned earlier this month that it could cut jobs and move its headquarters out of Pittsburgh if its sale plans fell through. Nippon Steel said in December it would push for U.S. Steel to sell, and lawmakers, including Biden and Trump, have decried the deal as potentially damaging to national security and industrial capacity.
“For a variety of reasons, preserving our ability to maintain American manufacturing through steel, by American workers, is paramount,” Harris said in her defense of the opposition.
“It's hard to imagine a new industry that doesn't need steel,” she added.
“And it's going to be crucial that American workers at American companies manufacture the steel for these industries.”
Ruhle interview is Harris' most in-depth policy look yet
Harris' interview with Ruhle was the most in-depth about her proposed economic policies of any previous media appearance or interview as a Democratic candidate.
For example, Ruhle asked Harris how she plans to pay for these proposals and whether the federal government plans to cut through red tape and reach out to local governments on issues like the housing shortage.
The Vice President outlined incentives the Federal Government could create to help communities build more housing and provide transportation to their communities.
Harris has argued that such a proposal could be paid for by raising corporate taxes, but has not offered details on how such a tax increase would get through Congress.
“We know we need to cut construction red tape and speed up the work that needs to be done, and it will take a collaborative effort from federal to state and local governments,” she said.
