5 Key Takeaways from Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s First Joint Interview

The interview was conducted by CNN’s Dana Bash and aired Thursday night. It lasted approximately 45 minutes.

Here are five key points from the interview.

1. Harris spoke about her changing positions

There has been much ado about Harris’s changing positions since her 2020 presidential campaign, when she embraced several progressive positions on climate change, immigration and health care.

Bash first addressed climate change, asking about her past support for the Green New Deal and her 2019 support for a ban on fracking.

“In 2020, I made it very clear where I stand,” Harris said of fracking. “We’re in 2024, and I haven’t changed that position, and I won’t change it. I kept my word, and I will keep my word.”

She explained that shift by talking about the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration’s flagship climate bill.

“What I’ve seen is that we can grow and create a thriving, clean energy economy without banning fracking,” she said.

When asked about her past support for “decriminalizing” the border, Harris pointed to her support — and pledge to revive — the bipartisan border bill that was defeated by Republicans earlier this year.

More broadly, Harris said her “values ​​haven’t changed.”

2. Harris said she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet

When Bash asked her if she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet, Harris said she would.

“I think it’s important to have people at the table when important decisions are being made who have different perspectives and experiences,” Harris said. “And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my Cabinet who was a Republican.”

While Biden has yet to appoint any Republicans to his Cabinet, that is not unheard of.

Barack Obama and George Bush both had members of the other party in their cabinets during their terms as president. Both Biden and former President Donald Trump appointed members of the other party to lower-level positions.

3. Walz spoke out about his controversies over military service and IVF

Since Walz was nominated for the vice presidency, he has come under scrutiny for two areas in particular: his descriptions of his military service and his apparent conflation of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intrauterine insemination (IUI).

Bash asked Walz about comments he made in 2018 suggesting he would carry weapons in wartime, despite never having deployed to a war zone as a member of the Minnesota National Guard. He made the comments while discussing his support for gun control measures. Harris’ campaign has said Walz misspoke.

“I think people are getting to know me. I speak like them. I speak candidly. I wear my emotions on my sleeve and I speak passionately,” Walz said during the interview on Thursday.

He later responded to criticism from Republicans by saying, “If it’s not this, but an attack on my children for showing love for me, or an attack on my dog, then I’m not going to do it.”

Walz has also suggested that he and his wife used IVF to conceive children. In fact, they used IUI.

They are both fertility treatments, but the process is different: IVF involves the fertilization — and possible removal — of embryos outside the uterus, and is therefore potentially threatened by anti-abortion laws, while IUI is not.

“I think most Americans get it, if you’ve been through that,” Walz said. “I don’t think they’re getting rid of IVF or IUI, I think they’re getting rid of abortion, and the ability to deny families the chance to have a beautiful child.”

4. Harris said there will be no change in US policy toward Israel

As pro-Palestinian protesters and other progressives push for an arms embargo on Israel, Harris said there would be no change in US policy toward Israel.

Harris also reaffirmed her support for a deal that would lead to the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, which is currently the position of the Biden administration.

While Harris has largely been supportive of Biden’s approach to Israel, she has often sounded a bit different from the president when it comes to the conflict, notably emphasizing the plight of Palestinians who have suffered and died as a result of the Israeli counterattack.

“Israel had the right — has the right — to defend itself,” Harris said, but added: “How it does that matters. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

5. Harris described the moment Biden told her he was dropping out of the race

Harris said that when Biden called her to let her know he was dropping out of the race, she was doing a puzzle with her great-nieces.

“He told me what he decided to do,” Harris said. “And I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ And he said, ‘Yes.'”

Harris also said that Biden had made it very clear that he would support her campaign, but that she was more focused on him.

“My first thought wasn’t about me, to be honest. My first thought was about him,” she said.