Kamala Harris declared Thursday that Americans are ready to turn the page on Donald Trump as she reached out to centrist voters in her first interview since her dramatic entry into November’s presidential election.
The 59-year-old Democrat insisted on CNN that she would be tough on illegal immigration and support controversial oil and gas fracking — while sticking to her liberal background by pledging a fairer economy.
“I am the best person to do this job,” Harris said in a joint interview with her running mate Tim Walz while on the campaign trail in the swing state of Georgia.
The first female and Black and South Asian vice president described Trump as “diminishing the character and the strength of who we are as Americans, really dividing our nation.”
“I think people are ready to turn the page on that,” she said.
The Democrat also said that she would name a Republican to her cabinet if she wins, in another sign that she is reaching out to wavering middle-of-the-road voters.
Harris rejected criticism that she has shifted positions on politically sensitive issues including fracking, which she once opposed but now supports, and illegal migration over the Mexican border, where she has taken a harder line.
Her comments appeared designed to court centrist voters worried by immigration and fuel costs. But in a nod to her left-leaning supporters, she insisted that she had not fundamentally shifted.
‘Where has she been?’
On another hot-button topic on the US political landscape, Harris urged a ceasefire in Gaza, but told CNN that she would not change President Joe Biden’s policies for key US ally Israel, including deliveries of weaponry.
Harris meanwhile described for the first time how she was flipping pancakes and frying bacon with her family when Biden rang her on July 21 to say he was ending his White House bid.
Republicans had criticized Harris for not giving any interviews since Biden abruptly dropped out, following mounting concerns over his health and age at 81.
She has enjoyed a honeymoon period with surging polls and record fundraising, but has also faced scrutiny for keeping many of her policies vague as she pulls her campaign together at record speed.
Harris has also been cautious with the media since a widely panned interview on migration in 2021, but she offered a measured performance on CNN on Thursday.
A number of polls out Thursday showed Harris ahead of Trump, if only marginally, with several of them finding increased support for Harris in battleground states.
Harris and Trump are set to face off in their pivotal first debate on September 10 in Philadelphia.
Saul Loeb and Danny Kemp, with AFP
