Harris says in first interview US ready to turn page on Trump

Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at Enmarket Arena during a two-day campaign bus tour in Savannah, Georgia, on August 29, 2024. [AFP]

Kamala Harris declared Thursday that Americans are ready to turn the page on Donald Trump as she reached out to centrist voters in her first interview since her dramatic entry into November's presidential election.

The 59-year-old Democrat insisted on CNN that she would be tough on illegal immigration and support controversial oil and gas fracking -- while sticking to her liberal background by pledging a fairer economy.

"I am the best person to do this job," Harris said in a joint interview with her running mate Tim Walz while on the campaign trail in the swing state of Georgia.

The first female and Black and South Asian vice president described Trump as "diminishing the character and the strength of who we are as Americans, really dividing our nation."

"I think people are ready to turn the page on that," she said. "People are ready for a new way forward."

The Democrat also said that she would name a Republican to her cabinet if she wins, in another sign that she is reaching out to wavering middle-of-the-road voters.

Trump branded the interview "BORING!!!" in a post on social media.

The Republican former president called Harris the "greatest flip-flopper" as he addressed a rally in the swing state of Michigan, before mocking her appearance in the interview.

"She didn't look like a leader to me," he said later.

Harris rejected criticism that she has shifted positions on politically sensitive issues including fracking, which she once opposed but now supports, and illegal migration over the Mexican border, where she has taken a harder line.

"As president I will not ban fracking," she said -- aiming to settle the controversy in fossil fuel-rich Pennsylvania, one of the vital battleground states in what both candidates admit will be a tight election.

Addressing criticism that she had been too soft on immigration -- a core part of Trump's right-wing message -- Harris said that as president she would sign tough legislation.

Her comments appeared designed to court centrist voters worried by immigration and fuel costs. But nodding to her left-leaning supporters, she insisted that she had not fundamentally shifted.

"My values have not changed," Harris said.

'Where has she been?'

On another hot-button topic on the US political landscape, Harris urged a ceasefire in Gaza, but told CNN that she would not change President Joe Biden's policies for key US ally Israel, including deliveries of weaponry.

"No, we have to get a deal done," she said, adding that she was "unwavering" in her support for Israel but that "far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed."

Harris meanwhile described for the first time how she was flipping pancakes and frying bacon with her family when Biden rang her on July 21 to say he was ending his White House bid.

"He told me what he had decided to do. And I asked him, 'Are you sure?' And he said, 'Yes,'" she said.

Republicans had criticized Harris for not giving any interviews since Biden abruptly dropped out, following mounting concerns over his health and age at 81.

She has enjoyed a honeymoon period with surging polls and record fundraising. Still, she has also faced scrutiny for keeping many of her policies vague as she pulls her campaign together at record speed.

Harris has also been cautious with the media since a widely panned interview on migration in 2021, but she offered a measured performance on CNN on Thursday.

Harris gave the interview while on a campaign bus tour of Georgia, one of the seven battleground states that are expected to decide the November 5 election.

A number of polls out Thursday showed Harris ahead of Trump, if only marginally, with several of them finding increased support for Harris in battleground states.

Trump has been hitting the campaign trail hard recently, after a period where the 78-year-old former president appeared to struggle to find his footing against a new, younger, female candidate.

Speaking at the event in Potterville, Michigan on Thursday, Trump targeted Harris on her immigration policy shifts, saying: "Where has she been for three and a half years?"

Harris and Trump are set to face off in their pivotal first debate on September 10 in Philadelphia.