Harris survives first major sit-down as Dem nominee with few missteps

Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, took part in her first major interview since becoming her party’s standard-bearer, escaping with no major gaffes and making no major news in the Thursday event. 

Harris, alongside running mate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), was questioned by CNN’s “Inside Politics” anchor Dana Bash on a variety of policy stances she has been criticized for shifting on, including fracking and decriminalizing the border.

Harris was adamant that her “values” had not changed on any of the matters.

She discussed the need to tackle climate change without talking in too much detail about the political calculations that come into play on fracking. Opposition to the practice could cost a candidate votes in swing state Pennsylvania, where fracking is an important industry.

On the border, Harris maintained she would enforce laws at the U.S southern border as president, after Bash noted Harris raised her hand during a 2020 Democratic primary debate when asked if the border should be decriminalized. 

Republicans have hammered Harris on border issues during the campaign, particularly for being tasked by President Biden with examining the root causes of migration.  

Harris also notably addressed comments by former President Trump about her race.

Bash noted Harris had never interacted with Trump or met him face-to-face, then relayed the notion that Trump suggested in an interview that Harris had “turned Black,” which Bash acknowledged questioned a “core part” of Harris’s identity.

“Same old, tired playbook. Next question, please,” Harris responded.

“That’s it?” Bash asked.

“That’s it,” Harris answered.

CNN aired the interview in its entirety, which Bash emphasized at the start of the program. Trump and his allies had criticized CNN for pretaping the interview instead of airing it live as a way to cover up potential Harris slipups.

There were no major gaffes from Harris or Walz, who was also mostly pressed to defend previous slipups.

The Minnesota governor said he spoke about infertility issues generally after previously suggesting that his family used vitro fertilization, when he and his wife actually used a different fertility treatment, intrauterine insemination. And he blamed his grammar when questioned about statements he’s made about carrying weapons of war, which he later had to clarify.

“I said we were talking about — in this case, of school shootings, the idea of carrying these weapons of war. And my wife, she says my grammar’s not always correct,” Walz said when Bash asked if those statements were a mistake.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) has criticized Walz’s military record, saying he has pretended to be someone he’s not, because he never saw combat. Walz served in the Army National Guard and left to run for Congress before his unit was deployed. Those who served with him have said they didn’t know the group would be leaving at the time of his retirement.

The vice president was also asked to reflect on her rapid-fire candidacy, which is little more than a month old. She said she was “humbled” by a viral photo of one of her nieces watching her accept the Democratic nomination for president.

Harris recounted when Biden told her he was no longer seeking reelection.  

“I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ He said ‘yes.’ And that’s how I learned about it,” Harris said, adding that Biden made it “very clear” he planned to support her as his replacement.

Brett Samuels and Julia Mueller contributed.