In her second interview since joining the race, Vice President Kamala Harris undermined her record in the Biden-Harris administration by stating that the administration’s policies are not fit for the “twenty-first century.” This puts Harris in a precarious position as she cannot campaign on policies to fix crime, inflation, and border security without undermining the Biden-Harris administration’s policies, but she must tout the administration’s policies to validate her record and candidacy.
Speaking with Brian Taff of Philadelphia’s Action News 6 ABC, as the Harris campaign promised she would Thursday after she was criticized for failing to answer questions during Tuesday’s debate, Harris suggested that she has a fresh “approach” with “new ideas” for the “current moment.” When asked if there are one or two spots where her approach differs from that of President Joe Biden, she replied, “My approach is about new ideas, new policies that are directed at the current moment. And also, to be very honest with you, my focus is very much in what we need to do over the next ten twenty years to catch up to the twenty-first century.
Harris emphasized her role as a new generation of leadership and provided examples of areas where she believes the Biden-Harris administration has fallen short. One such example is expanding the child tax credit to $6,000 for young families for the first year of their child’s life, recognizing that “at this moment in time, some of the stuff we could take for granted years ago, we can’t take for granted anymore.
When asked how she would address issues like making life more affordable for people and bringing down prices, Harris gave a rehearsed response, focusing on her middle-class upbringing and sidestepping the question. She struggled to answer questions about former President Donald Trump’s appeal and his voters, providing a rambling and indirect response.
In terms of gun control, Harris expressed her support for an assault weapons ban but maintained that it was not her intention to take away anyone’s guns.