Kamala Harris tells CNN she won’t change Joe Biden’s policy on arms for Israel

In the first interview of her presidential campaign, Kamala Harris said she would not withhold weapons to Israel, adding it was time for a ceasefire and hostage deal to ‘end this war’ | WATCH

Tim Walz and Kamala Harris on their CNN interview to air on Friday. Picture: Photo: Will Lanzoni/CNN/WSJ

Kamala Harris said on Thursday in a CNN interview that she would not change US President Joe Biden’s policy on supplying Israel with arms for its war in Gaza if elected in November.

“No,” the Democratic nominee and Vice-President said when asked if she would change course and withhold weapons to Israel, while adding that it was time for a ceasefire and hostage deal and to “end this war.”

In the first interview of her presidential campaign, alongside running mate Tim Walz, Ms Harris aimed to stake out a centrist position on CNN, insisting that she will be tough on illegal immigration and support controversial oil and gas fracking — but not abandon her longtime liberal values.

She said Americans were ready to “turn the page” on divisions she blamed on her rival Donald Trump.

“Sadly in the last decade, we have had in the former president someone who has really been pushing an agenda and an environment that is about diminishing the character and the strength of who we are as Americans, really dividing our nation,” she said.

“And I think people are ready to turn the page on that. People are ready for a new way forward.”

Ms Harris also said that she would name a Republican to her cabinet if she wins November’s election.

Ms Harris declared that her “values have not changed” on key issues such as climate change and immigration despite shifting policy stances.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, branded Ms Harris the “greatest flip-flopper” as he addressed a rally in the swing state of Michigan, before mocking her appearance in the interview.

“She didn’t look like a leader to me,” the Republican said.

Ms Harris and Mr Walz, who have faced criticism that they have avoided tough questions, spoke to CNN’s Dana Bash as they took a bus tour through Georgia.

Ms Harris defended herself on her changed stances on issues such as fracking compared with her first campaign for president in 2019.

“As president I will not ban fracking,” she told CNN.

The issue looms as a key one in the battleground state of Pennsylvania where November’s election could be decided.

During her earlier campaign, Ms Harris said she was in favour of banning fracking – a stance backed by environmentalists – but has since disavowed that position.

Ms Harris, who became the nominee in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s decision in July not to seek re-election, faced questions on a wide range of issues, including domestic and foreign policy and Biden’s decision to depart the race.

The entire interview aired on the network from 9pm ET (11am AEST).

Ms Harris has also sought to strike a balance on immigration policy that would “create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border,” as she said in last week’s convention address, along with her vow to bring back the border-security bill that failed in the Senate and sign it into law. She had previously struck a softer tone on illegal migrant crossings.

In an exclusive interview, CNN's Dana Bash presses Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on why her policies have changed over the years. The full interview will air at 9 p.m. ET Thursday on CNN's "The First Interview: Harris & Walz, A CNN Exclusive."… pic.twitter.com/JYgHvcXZMd

— CNN (@CNN) August 29, 2024

“I have always believed, and I have worked on it, that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines,” she said.

“We did that with the Inflation Reduction Act,” she said, referring to the 2022 climate law approved during the Biden administration. She also argued that she hasn’t changed on “what we need to do to secure our border.”

Ms Harris at the Democratic National Convention last week. Picture: AFP

The interview came a week after Ms Harris’s Chicago convention and as polls have shown her in a competitive position against former president Donald Trump in more than a half-dozen battleground states.

Ms Harris, who has said she would serve as president for “all Americans,” said in the interview that she would appoint a Republican to her cabinet if she wins the White House. She didn’t, however, offer particular names.

“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. And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my cabinet who was a Republican,” Ms Harris said.

Republicans have accused Ms Harris of ducking reporters and said she was incapable of sitting for a solo interview. Trump said Thursday on his Truth Social platform that Mr Walz shouldn’t be “present to help with the inevitable Kamala stumbles.”

New running mates have typically sat for interviews around their political conventions, including Trump and then running mate Mike Pence; Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan; and Barack Obama and Biden. Still, Ms Harris hasn’t sat for a solo interview since she became the Democratic Party’s nominee and hasn’t directly laid out extensive policy stances to the public and how they might differ from Biden’s agenda.

The interview comes ahead of the Labor Day holiday, which marks the start of the fall presidential campaign.

Ms Harris will be in Michigan and Pennsylvania on Monday while Trump will be in Pennsylvania on Friday.

Dow Jones Newswires