Kamala Harris defended some personal shifts in policy toward the center on Thursday. She said she might name a Republican to her cabinet if elected, in her first interview with a mainstream news organization since Democrats nominated her for president.
“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is, that my values have not changed,” she told CNN anchor Dana Bash in an early excerpt from the interview to be broadcast at 9 pm ET (0100 GMT on Friday).
Harris has moved more toward the center on some issues from when she ran for president in 2020 until she took over from President Joe Biden as the Democrats’ choice to face Republican former President Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 election.
She has toughened her position on migration along the southern US border with Mexico. She no longer wants a ban on fracking, an energy production method that employs many people in Pennsylvania, one of a handful of swing states that could decide the election.
“My value around what we need to do to secure our border – that value has not changed. I spent two terms as the attorney general of California prosecuting transnational criminal organizations, and violations of American laws, regarding the illegal passage of guns, drugs, and human beings across our border. My values have not changed,” she said.
Harris’ conversation was aimed at showing her in command of the issues. Some critics suggested she may be less polished in unscripted settings after she led the Democrats’ turnaround with a series of forceful campaign speeches.
