GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Vice President Kamala Harris continued to refrain from criticizing President Joe Biden on Friday, arguing that it is an American tradition for vice presidents not to disparage the commander-in-chief.
After speaking at an afternoon campaign rally, Harris was asked by NBC News to identify one policy he would have done differently than Biden over the past three and a half years.
“To be very honest with you, vice presidents, including Mike Pence, don’t criticize their president. I think that really, in terms of tradition, but also going forward, it doesn’t do a productive and important relationship,” Harris said.
Harris has come under fire from Republican rival Donald Trump for refusing to distance himself more strongly from Biden, who remains unpopular in opinion polls. Earlier this week, Biden said Harris would “make his own way” as president apart from his, which was taken as a sign that he would not be upset if he put distance between them.
While Harris continued to decline to say anything he would do differently from Biden, he pointed to policy patterns he would change if elected president. Harris pointed to a home health proposal for Medicare that would help people caring for sick family members. He also made it a priority to provide people with affordable housing.
Harris has dismissed his critics, including Trump, claiming the “joy” has disappeared from his campaign. “Oh, I’m having a great time,” he said.
He argued that his campaign could be optimistic about the future and be “open-minded” in criticizing Trump.
“I have great optimism, as do the people here, about the future of our country,” he said. “This is not a conflict, but a clear vision of the danger that Donald Trump poses based on the language he uses and his admiration for dictators, his inability to truly focus on the needs of the American people, especially working people. , they are not contradictory.
In an interview with NBC News, Harris responded to questions about Trump’s widening gender gap showing his male dominance.
“You can look in this audience and you can see that there are people of all backgrounds and genders, and there are thousands of people, and I think that’s because they know that I intend to be president for all Americans. How I’m campaigning to win the vote of every American.” he said.
Pressed again about the gender gap and Trump’s preference for male voters, Harris said, “It’s not my experience to be honest with you.”
NBC News has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Both Harris and Trump gave targeted media interviews in the final weeks of the campaign.
Trump appeared on Fox News Friday morning and has recently gone on popular podcasts aimed at young men, including Full Send, Bussin’ With Boys and Flagrant. He also did a town hall with Univision and an interview with Bloomberg News. And on Sunday night, he canceled an interview with NBC News chief business correspondent Christine Romans about the economy that was scheduled to be taped on Monday; his campaign has yet to schedule it. He also canceled an interview with CNBC this week and decided not to go on an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which is traditional for a party’s presidential candidate.
Harris has been criticized for doing too few media interviews, but recently he’s gone on a blitz, including on the Call His Father podcast, the Howard Stern show, The Shade Room and less traditional outlets, including Fox News.
Harris took aim at Trump in his speech at the Grand Rapids rally, questioning the former president’s campaign energy.
“As we have seen, he only focuses on himself and now he avoids debates and cancels interviews. Come on,” Harris said, referring to interviews he agreed to on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” and CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Harris continued: “His own campaign team recently said it was due to exhaustion. Well, if you’re tired on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you’re up to the toughest job in the world.”
The vice president has recently sharpened his attacks on Trump by questioning his mental acuity.
Peter Alexander Grand Rapids, Mich. and Rebecca Shabad reported from Washington.