Harris refuses to veer off script in her second high-profile interview

PHILADELPHIA — Kamala Harris largely stuck to her script during an interview Tuesday with a panel of National Association of Black Journalists members, carefully parrying questions about hot-button issues like the war in Gaza, reparations and other critical election topics.

It was the vice president’s second high-profile national media interview since announcing her presidential run, and though she spoke passionately at times about abortion rights and other policies, she did not break much ground or stray far from her talking points during the near hour-long conversation.

Harris’ appearance at the NABJ event follows Donald Trump’s combative sit-down interview with the association over the summer, during which the former president made headlines for his hostile approach. Trump immediately argued with moderators and questioned Harris’ racial identity — comments that left many in the audience at the time startled.

During Harris’ interview in Philadelphia on Tuesday, at the public radio station WHYY’s headquarters, she laced into Trump for spreading a conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Ohio, saying that he was “spewing lies that are grounded in tropes that are age-old.”

“It’s a crying shame. I mean, my heart breaks for this community,” she said, adding that students who were heading to their school picture day had to evacuate due to threats of violence in the wake of the baseless claims. “Children, children. A whole community put in fear.”

It was Harris’ most animated response during the conversation. During his debate with Harris last week, Trump circulated the racist conspiracy theory that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, many of whom are there legally with temporary protective status, were eating people’s pets. There have been numerous threats in the small Ohio town, shuttering the doors of schools and City Hall.

Though local officials have denied the claims, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate, recently told CNN in an interview that he would continue to share stories like this one to elevate immigration and border policy issues.

Trump’s spokesperson, when asked for comment, accused Harris of using “disgusting rhetoric” but didn’t provide specifics.

Harris’ sit-down took place in front of a live audience, which included NABJ members as well as local students of historically Black colleges and universities. At several points throughout the event, members of the small crowd quietly took photos and videos of her answers.

Harris also said on Tuesday at the NABJ event that she spoke to Trump earlier in the day following an apparent assassination attempt against him this past weekend at his Florida golf club. She said she “checked on him to see if he was okay” and told him “there is no place for political violence in our country.” In the aftermath of the incident, Trump and his allies accused Harris of using harsh rhetoric that they argued — without evidence — helped fuel violence directed at him, though she condemned political violence on Sunday night.

But on policy, Harris did little to draw any distance from President Joe Biden’s administration. Asked about the Israel-Hamas war and whether she would change the nation’s policy on Israel, she declined to specify any area where she would shift her handling of the war. Instead, Harris reiterated that she supports a cease-fire and hostage release deal, which Biden has been working toward.

“We need to get this deal done and we need to get it done immediately,” she said. “And that is my position and that is my policy.”

As she has done in the past, Harris said that she believes in Israel’s right to defend itself and a two-state solution. She also expressed sympathy for both Israelis and Palestinians, saying that too many innocent people in Gaza have been killed. The issue of the war in Gaza in particular has been a major sticking point among centrist Democrats and progressives, who had sharply disagreed with Biden over the Middle East war and threatened his reelection bid before he withdrew from the race.

In part, Harris’ unwillingness on Tuesday to break from Biden’s approach underscores the challenges of running for office as the sitting vice president.

While she has stressed on the campaign trail and in her debate against Trump that she is not Biden, disagreeing with him publicly is still a delicate matter. Not only are there personal relationships at play, but breaking with the president in public could undermine his negotiating power on the international stage.

The panel of NABJ members who moderated the interview were POLITICO Playbook co-author Eugene Daniels, Fresh Air co-host Tonya Mosley and theGrio White House Correspondent Gerren Keith Gaynor.

The hosts asked a range of questions, including about the economy, abortion rights, gun control, Black men who are thinking about voting for Trump as well as reparations for descendants of slaves.

On whether she would take executive action to create a commission to study reparations or if that was better handled by Congress, Harris said the latter.

“I’m not discounting the importance of any executive action,” she said. “But ultimately Congress, because if you’re going to talk about it in any substantial way, there will be hearings, there will be a level of public education and dialogue.”

Harris, who has repeatedly said that she would sign a bill to codify Roe v. Wade, was also asked whether she supports the restrictions that were outlined in the court decision.

Roe v. Wade, which the Supreme Court overturned in 2022, is best known for protecting abortion rights. But it also stipulated limitations, permitting states to regulate the procedure in the pregnant person’s third trimester. In fact, the landmark Supreme Court case allowed states to ban abortion in the final trimester, as long as the law provided exceptions for the life of the mother.

Abortion rights advocates do not support the restrictions in Roe, arguing that the government shouldn’t have any role in regulating abortion. But many voters prefer some but not unlimited abortion access.

“We need to put back in place the protections of Roe v. Wade and let an individual in consultation with her doctor make the decision based on what she can determine, cause she’s smart enough to know what’s in her best interest, instead of having her government tell her what to do,” she said.