Vice President Kamala Harris said interview With NBC News’ Hallie Jackson on Tuesday, she said she’s not worried sexism could affect next month’s election and thinks the country is ready for a woman of color in the White House.
“Come to my events and you’ll see there are men and women,” Harris said at his official residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington. they want to know that their president has a plan to cut spending, that their president has a plan to keep America safe in the context of our position in the world.
“Every step of the life of our country,” he continued, “I think part of what’s important in this election is really not just turning the page, but closing the page and the chapter on an era that has divided Americans.”
Harris covered several topics, including saying abortion rights are “non-negotiable,” even as he campaigned with Republicans who oppose abortion rights, such as former Rep. Liz Cheney, and said he would work with Republicans to find compromises if elected.
Harris will be the first female president and only the second non-white president in American history. But 16 years after Barack Obama became the first black president and eight years after Hillary Clinton lost her shot at breaking the “highest, toughest glass ceiling,” Harris said she’s not worried about sexism holding her back.
“I don’t think of it that way,” she said of sexism. “My challenge is to talk to and listen to as many voters as possible and make sure I win their vote. And I will never assume that everyone in our country should choose a leader based on their gender or race, but instead that leader should be voted on their merits and what they will do to solve problems and inspire people.”
Harris not much inhabited about the history-making potential of his candidacy. He declined to ask why.
“Well, I’m obviously a woman,” she said. “What most people really care about is whether you can do the work and do you really have a plan to focus on them.”
Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump are just two weeks away from the November election locked in a dead heatpolls show a neck-and-neck race both nationally and in seven key battleground states.
On abortion rights, Harris said he is not interested in finding a potential compromise with Republicans to restore some abortion rights after Roe v. Wade is over.
“I don’t think we should compromise when we’re talking about the fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” he said.
While campaigning with Harris in Michigan on Monday, Cheney, a former House member from Wyoming, said he was “pro-life” but still worried about restrictions on medical treatments such as in vitro fertilization in a post- Roe environment.
“There are many of us in the country who are pro-life, but have watched what has happened in our states since the Dobbs decision and watched state legislatures pass laws that deprive women of the care they need. Cheney said.
Harris said the support from Cheney and other Republicans should not be taken as a sign that he is softening his commitment to abortion rights.
“He’s pro-life, but he also understands the pain and the tragedy that happened after Donald Trump allowed Roe v. Wade to be overturned,” he said. “So that’s my take on non-negotiables.”
Asked if he suggested there might be at least some bipartisan support for abortion rights legislation in Congress, Harris declined to go into specifics, dismissing the idea as a “hypothetical.”
“We must restore the protections of Roe v. Wade,” he said.
Asked if President Joe Biden’s performance in the debate against Trump pressured him to step aside, Harris said he was honest about what he saw behind the scenes.
“Joe Biden is extremely skilled, experienced, and capable in every way that anyone would want to be president,” Harris said. “Joe Biden has done the job of being a leader in what we’re doing to fix a lot of things that have been broken economically because of Donald Trump’s mismanagement. I’m not only speaking honestly, but I’m speaking directly because he’s done that.”
Asked if he could pardon Trump for the charges he still faces, including trying to overturn the 2020 election, if he wins, Harris said he wouldn’t speculate on whether that would help the nation. move one.
“Let me tell you what will help us,” he said. “I am elected president of the United States.”