WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris said during an interview with the CBS News show “60 Minutes” that aired Monday she believes Congress would work with her to implement economic and tax policies if she’s elected.
She also criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for declining to sit for an interview with the news program but noted that voters interested in his goals for the country should just listen to one of his rallies.
“You’re going to hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances — and what you will not hear is anything about you, the listener,” Harris said. “You will not hear about how he’s going to try to bring the country together, find common ground. And that is why I believe in my soul and heart, the American people are ready to turn the page.”
Harris reinforced her support for Ukraine during the interview, saying she wouldn’t sit down to bilateral talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the conflict.
“Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine,” Harris said, though she declined to say if her administration would support bringing Ukraine into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Harris argued that were Trump president when Russia invaded Ukraine, “Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now,” the Ukrainian capital.
“He talks about, ‘Oh, he can end it on day one.’ You know what that is? It’s about surrender,” Harris said of Trump.
Trump and immigration
Harris focused many of her answers to questions about immigration and border security on Trump, criticizing him for working behind the scenes to scuttle bipartisan legislation that took months to negotiate.
She also noted more than once that Congress is responsible for writing laws governing immigration policy and questioned why lawmakers didn’t approve a bill President Joe Biden sent up in the first days of his administration.
Harris said she believes Americans will vote for her over Trump, in part, because they want a president who doesn’t make the types of comments about immigrants that Trump regularly makes on the campaign trail.
“I believe that the people of America want a leader who’s not trying to divide us and demean,” Harris said. “I believe that the American people recognize that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down, it’s based on who you lift up.”
Harris said she was confident that members of Congress would work with her, if she’s elected president, to implement some of her core policy proposals, including expanding the Child Tax Credit and establishing a tax credit for first-time home buyers.
She said paying for those proposals could be achieved through making “sure that the richest among us, who can afford it, pay their fair share in taxes.”
“It is not right that teachers and nurses and firefighters are paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations, and I plan on making that fair,” she said.
When Harris talks with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, many of them understand the points she’s making about the tax code, she said.
“There are plenty of leaders in Congress who understand and know that the Trump tax cuts blew up our federal deficit,” Harris said. “None of us, and certainly I, cannot afford to be myopic in terms of how I think about strengthening America’s economy.”
Harris provided more details during the interview on her gun ownership, revealing that she owns a Glock and has fired it at shooting ranges.
“I have a Glock, and I’ve had it for quite some time,” Harris said. “And I mean, look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement. And so there you go.”
