In her first television interview since her nomination to the White House, Kamala Harris promises that "one of my main priorities will be to support and strengthen the middle class." And to CNN's microphones, she says she is running for president "for all Americans", with the intention of turning the page, finding "a new way forward" after the political polarization accentuated by Donald Trump.
In this regard, she says that she will appoint a Republican to her government, as other presidents have done in the past, explaining that she does not currently have a particular name in mind: "we still have 68 days before the elections, so I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but I will." In the interview, the vice president also defended herself against accusations of having changed her position on important issues, such as fracking or border security, from when she ran for the White House in 2019 to today: "my values have not changed."
Regarding fracking, the technique of hydraulic fracturing of the ground to extract oil and natural gas contested by environmentalists, she had modified her previous contrary position already in 2020 when she became a candidate for the White House. The issue is crucial for the vote in Pennsylvania, where many jobs depend on this industry. "As vice president, I didn't ban fracking, as president I won't," she assured voters in this key state, while stating that she believes "it is very important to seriously consider what we need to do to defend ourselves from what is clearly a climate crisis."
Regarding immigration, one of the issues on which Trump strongly attacks the Democrat to whom Joe Biden had entrusted the delicate border dossier at the beginning of his term, Harris in turn points the finger at the former president who used his influence on Trumpists in Congress to block the bipartisan deal that would have ensured greater border security.
"Because he believed this would not help him politically, he told his people in Congress, 'don't let it go through,' he killed the bill that would have put another 1,500 agents on the border," Harris said.
In general, Harris has been tough on immigration, saying she is against decriminalizing irregular border crossings, contrary to what she said in 2019: "we have laws that must be followed and applied to people who cross the border illegally and there must be consequences," she said, claiming that as California's attorney general she has prosecuted international criminal cartels.
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