US Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris distanced herself from the political course set by President Joe Biden, in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
In previous media appearances, Harris had avoided drawing contrasts between herself and the outgoing president.
“You’re not Joe Biden, you’re not Donald Trump, but nothing comes to mind that you would do differently?” Fox host Bret Baier asked the Democratic candidate.
“Let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” Harris replied, pledging to draw on her “professional experiences” and bring in “fresh new ideas.”
“For example, as someone who has not spent the majority of my career in Washington DC, I invite ideas: whether it be from the Republicans who are supporting me, who were just on stage with me minutes ago, and the business sector and others, who can contribute to the decisions that I make,” the vice president continued.
Referring to the Harris campaign's slogan, “Time to turn the page,” Baier pressed the Democrat nominee about what she would turn the page to, having already been vice president for three and a half years. Harris pivoted her answer to her Republican rival.
“Well, first of all, turning the page from the last decade in which we have been burdened with the kind of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump,” she replied, accusing the former president of dividing the American people.
Harris had been widely criticized in the media over her recent interview on the Late Show, for evading a question on what “major changes” her presidency would bring, compared to Biden’s.
“Sure, well I’m obviously not Joe Biden,” she told host Stephen Colbert last week, adding that neither is she Donald Trump, to cheers from the studio audience.
“And so when we think about the significance of what this next generation of leadership looks like, were I to be elected president, it is about – frankly, I love the American people, and I believe in our country,” she said, going on to praise the American work ethic, ambition and character.
In an interview on ABC last week, Harris was also asked how she would have done things differently to Biden.
“There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of – and I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact,” the presidential nominee said.
Trump seized on the remark, writing on his Truth Social platform the following day: “Kamala stated clearly, yesterday, that she would not do anything different than Joe Biden, so there is nothing to debate.”
Harris took over as the Democratic party’s contender for the election after Biden stepped down earlier in the year, after a disastrous televised debate against Trump raised concerns over his mental state.