Vice President Harris on Thursday gave her first major interview since becoming the Democratic nominee.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), were interviewed by CNN's Dana Bash while campaigning in Georgia in an interview that aired on the cable network Thursday evening and was conducted earlier in the day.
CNN stretched the interview to an hour-long broadcast, though the actual interview was likely much shorter, with campaign footage and commercial breaks punctuating the hour.
Ms. Harris and Mr. Waltz spoke well, if not loudly, while Mr. Bash, despite pressing Ms. Harris on several topics, adopted a softer tone that is likely to frustrate conservatives.
Key takeaways from the interviews include:
Harris defends policy shift
Ms Harris has one glaring weakness: her tendency to change her positions and her personality have led to widespread doubts about her credibility.
She tried to fight back in an interview on Thursday, telling Bash that “my values haven't changed.”
To make that point, she emphasized her fundamental belief that climate change is a real and present danger, and also played up the tougher side of her past record on immigration, evoking her time as California attorney general when she prosecuted gang members for human trafficking.
But when Bash pressed her for more specifics, Harris delivered one of the least memorable statements of the interview.
When asked by Bash if she wanted to ban fracking as she has done in the past, Harris replied, “No, I made it very clear in the 2020 debates that I will not ban fracking.”
Not surprisingly, Bash then recited remarks from 2019 in which Harris said there was “no question” she would ban fracking.
“I made my position clear in 2020,” Harris responded. “In 2024, that position has not changed.”
This explanation only drew further attention to a fundamental contradiction.
Similarly, when asked if she still believes illegal border crossings should be decriminalized, as she indicated during the 2020 primary, Harris responded, “I believe there should be consequences.”
While Harris largely avoided the defensive tone seen in previous interviews, it's hard to believe her answers won over many skeptics.
Harris gives new details about Biden's election withdrawal
Harris has, for the most part, doubled down on her loyalty to President Biden.
She argued that history would classify his presidency as “transformative” and that he had worked “utterly selflessly” on behalf of the American people.
At another point, she praised Biden's “intelligence,” “judgment” and “temper,” adding, “In contrast, the former president has none of those things.”
On a human level, one of the most interesting elements of the interview came when Harris said Biden had called her to tell her he was no longer seeking reelection.
Harris said she had family staying with her, including her baby niece, and had just been eating pancakes when Biden called. Biden said she asked Harris if he was sure of his decision, and Biden reiterated that he was.
When asked by Bash whether she had sought Biden's endorsement during that call, Harris insisted it was clear the president would support her.
“To be honest with you, my first thought wasn't even my own. My first thought was him,” she added.
In other respects there were very subtle indications of distance between the lines.
Harris did not directly answer a question about whether she thought “Bidenomics” had been a success.
Instead, she pointed to the most popular elements of her administration's economic record, including capping prescription drug prices for seniors and boosting manufacturing jobs.
“This is good work,” Harris said. “There's still work to be done, but this is good work.”
Harris appeals to disgruntled Republicans
The election is likely to be decided by a small percentage of undecided voters in about seven battleground states.
Harris has struggled to appeal to moderate voters, as well as Republican voters who are skeptical of former President Trump.
Asked by Bash in an interview on Thursday whether she would appoint Republicans to her Cabinet if elected, Harris said she would, but didn't have anyone in particular in mind.
“I think that's really important. I've spent my career encouraging diversity of opinion,” Harris told Bash.
Of course, if Harris is elected, it's entirely possible that she will find a reason not to keep that promise.
But it was also a clear promise of reaching across America's political divide and an attempt to reassure at least some conservatives that their voices would be heard in a Harris administration.
Waltz overcomes some hurdles
The Harris campaign's decision to hold a joint interview with Waltz drew criticism, especially from conservatives who argued that the presidential candidate should have been interviewed alone.
However, there is a long history of both presidential candidates from the same party being interviewed together.
Overall, the vice presidential candidates' performances were neither great nor bad.
The Minnesota governor was asked about past comments in which he said he would have carried a weapon “in war” even though he never actually saw combat.
Waltz was somewhat evasive about this point, claiming that “I speak plainly” and that people “know where my heart is,” but acknowledging that his wife, an English teacher, told him that his “grammar” was “not always correct.”
Waltz gave a similar response when asked about the specific fertility treatments he and his wife, Gwen, underwent, but on that topic he seemed on better grounds when he asserted that most people aren't “wasting their time with IVF or IUI.”
Perhaps Walz's best moment came when he was asked about his children's, particularly his son Gus, emotional reaction to his speech at the Democratic Convention.
Waltz said, “My son [felt] A sense of pride in myself.”
For Harris, “boredom” is a good thing
Trump wrote his typically strong review of Harris' interview to Truth Social.
His full post read: “BORED!!!”
What the former president seems to have missed is that being “boring” is probably okay for Harris.
The vice president has had a remarkable run since Biden announced he was leaving office: He won the nomination, rode a wave of Democratic enthusiasm, a cash cow and a glitzy convention.
She currently holds a slight lead over Trump in the polls.
The CNN interview won't earn a place in the hall of political persuasion, but it's not even close to being in the hall of disgrace.
Harris and Waltz got the job done because they had conducted important interviews, and they didn't do anything to slow their momentum.
On Thursday, that modest mission was accomplished.
