Harris and Walz talk Cabinet hires and a viral DNC moment: 4 CNN interview takeaways
NEW YORK ? In her first interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris chose to bring her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, along for the ride.
Dressed in a grey monochromatic suit and her trademark pearl necklace, Harris talked about her evolution on a number of progressive policy positions she was aligned with as a California senator and as a presidential candidate in 2020 and her openness to appointing a Republican to her Cabinet, among other topics in a sit-down interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash.
With 67 days to go until the election, Harris had been criticized for not having had news conferences or interviews with reporters more than a month after she took the baton from President Joe Biden when he dropped out of the race.
Here are four takeaways from the Harris-Walz interview:
Lincoln and Obama-esque team of rivals?
Harris of course needs to win in November if she's going to be building her own administration. But that has not stopped the parlor game on whom she'd pick to serve in her government.
Bash pressed Harris on whether she would consider appointing a Republican to her Cabinet, and the Democratic nominee was quick to respond with a “yes,” before adding she didn’t have anyone “in particular’ in mind.
“I have spent my career inviting diversity of opinion,” she said, adding that such a move would be “to the benefit of the American public.”
Picking members of the opposite party to serve in government is nothing new, at least from a different modern era in politics. President Barack Obama nominated three Republicans to his Cabinet: Ray LaHood to lead the Transportation Department, Robert Gates at the Pentagon and Judd Gregg for secretary of commerce, though the New Hampshire senator later dropped out of consideration.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta served as the only Democrat in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush.
Flip-flopping on liberal policy positions?
The interview got a bit testy when Bash asked Harris whether she still supported fracking after saying in 2019 that “there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking."
Harris seemed irritated at the question and responded by saying she had made it clear on the 2020 vice presidential debate stage that she would not ban fracking if voters elected Joe Biden to the White House.
“I've kept my word and I'll keep my word,” she said.
Bash reframed the question, asking what had made her change her mind “at the time.”
“Let's be clear. My values have not changed,” Harris said before talking about how the Inflation Reduction Act included investments in clean energy and creating more than 300,000 jobs in the industry.
Walz and his son’s emotional moment
Walz addressed one of the most viral moments from last week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago: one that featured his son, Gus.
While accepting his nomination to be Harris’ running mate, television cameras zoomed in on Gus Walz saying, “That my dad.”
Asked about that moment, which has drawn attention to his son's nonverbal learning disorder as well as anxiety and ADHD, Walz replied that it was “a visceral, emotional moment.”
“I’m grateful I got to experience it. And I’m ? I’m so proud of him,” he said.
The phone call that changed everything
Thursday's interview also delivered a bit more detail to a pivotal moment from the 2024 campaign: how Harris learned she'd become the Democratic Party's new standard-bearer.
Asked to replay the moment, Harris replied that she was sitting down to do a puzzle with her visiting grandnieces when she got the call from Biden saying he was dropping out of the race and endorsing her.
Harris said she asked Biden if he was sure.
“He was very clear that he was going to support me,” she said, adding that history will show that Biden, throughout his career, has been selfless and put the American people first.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris-Walz CNN interview takeaways: A team of rivals?
