Kamala Harris reveals plans for day one in White House and she hasn’t met Donald Trump yet
Donald Trump has reacted to Kamala Harris’ first TV interview where she responded to his claim she “turned black”, revealed her plans for the White House and how Joe Biden quit. Follow live.
In her first interview as the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris claimed she had no regrets about insisting President Joe Biden could serve for four more years, as she defended their record and vowed to build on it if she defeated Donald Trump.
The Vice President also refused to bite back at her opponent’s attacks, saying when asked about his claim that she “turned Black”: “Same old tired playbook. Next question please.”
Ms Harris had avoided the press for 39 days since the oldest president in history dropped out of the race, thrusting her to the top of the Democratic ticket for November’s election.
Speaking in a prime-time interview on CNN, she promised voters could trust that her “values have not changed” as she was grilled over her backflips on key policy issues.
And when asked what she would do on her first day as the president, Ms Harris offered a vague answer about supporting middle class voters before saying that Americans were “ready to turn the page” on her controversial opponent.
Pressed by CNN journalist Dana Bash, she said her immediate priority was her “opportunity economy” agenda including an expanded tax credit for parents with children, a crackdown on price-gouging, and taxpayer-funded payments to first-time home-buyers.
On his social media platform, Mr Trump said he looked forward to debating Ms Harris on September 10 and “exposing her for the fraud she is”.
The Republican nominee later added a one-word review of her interview: “BORING!!!”
Ms Harris’s running mate Tim Walz was also grilled over accusations that he misrepresented his military service because he once spoke of carrying weapons in war even though he never deployed, and had also mischaracterized a drunk-driving arrest.
“My record speaks for itself … I certainly own my mistakes when I make them,” he said.
Speaking for the first time about Mr Biden’s decision to abandon his re-election bid, Ms Harris dismissed a question about her defence of the 81-year-old’s capabilities.
“I have spent hours upon hours with him … He has the intelligence, the commitment and the judgement and disposition that I think the American people rightly deserve in their president,” she said.
Asked if his “Bidenomics” agenda had been a success, the Vice President hailed the administration’s accomplishments as “good work” but acknowledged there was “more to do” after years of soaring inflation.
“Prices, in particular for groceries, are still too high. The American people know it. I know it,” Ms Harris said.
The Democratic nominee maintained she would not ban fracking, confirming she had reversed her position on the unconventional extraction method that boosted gas production.
Ms Harris also stood behind her decision to backtrack on arguing that border crossings should be decriminalised, in an attempt to head off a key line of attack by Mr Trump.
She sidestepped a question about why it took the Biden-Harris administration more than three years to curb the record influx of illegal migrants that started when they came to office, and instead blamed her Republican rival for blocking bipartisan border reforms this year.
“I will make sure that it comes to my desk and I would sign it,” Ms Harris promised.
In an effort to steal the limelight from her interview, Mr Trump unveiled a new commitment for the government or health insurers to pay the full cost of IVF treatments, a move designed to shore up his increasing weakness with female voters.
A series of polls conducted after last week’s Democratic convention confirmed Ms Harris held a narrow lead over the Republican, with a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey giving her an advantage in six of the seven battleground states that will decide the election.
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