Kamala Harris’ NABJ Interview Covered Guns, Gaza, and More

Vice President Kamala Harris said in Philadelphia on Tuesday that she does not treat black male voters as a monolith, amid signs that former President Donald Trump has gained traction with that demographic.

“I work to get their votes, and I don’t assume I’m going to get them because I’m black,” Harris said in an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists.

It was one of her first live interviews since becoming the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden decided to end his reelection campaign. Harris didn’t break modern ground and didn’t offer many details about her policy proposals when pressed by moderators. But she emerged from the 45-minute event largely unscathed, despite weeks of criticism for her avoidance of unscripted interviews with reporters.

» READ MORE: Donald Trump Questions Kamala Harris’ Racial Identity and Returns to Pennsylvania for First Time Since Assassination

The event couldn’t have been more different from Trump’s July meeting with the same organization, during which he clashed with moderators and drew widespread criticism for questioning when Harris “went black.” (Harris, whose mother is Indian and father is Jamaican, has long embraced both aspects of her heritage.)

Harris’ last visit to Philadelphia came 49 days before Election Day, in a race in which both candidates are targeting Pennsylvania as a must-win state.

Harris’ interview was conducted by WHYY and moderated by Gerren Gaynor of TheGrio, Eugene Daniels of Politico and Tonya Mosley of NPR. Before an audience of NABJ members and students from historically black colleges and universities, the vice president answered questions on topics ranging from job creation and abortion to Israel’s war with Hamas and gun violence in the U.S.

She reiterated her support for a ban on assault rifles, which are often used in high-profile mass shootings, and noted that she and her vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are gun owners.

“We’re not trying to take away anyone’s guns, but we need a ban on assault weapons,” she said.

Asked what other strategies she thought could address the gun violence epidemic in the U.S., where 59% of homicides and violent crimes are committed with handguns, Harris admitted that “there are very few solutions that we haven’t thought of.”

She said universal background checks would be helpful, although they would only cover legally purchased guns. She also stressed the need to end gun show loopholes that allow dealers in some states to sell guns without conducting background checks.

“I myself protested at a gun show 10, 15 years ago, arguing that there are loopholes in the law regarding gun shows and that we need to close them,” she said.

On Israel’s war with Hamas, Daniels noted that Harris has been praised for emphasizing the humanity of the Palestinians in her public statements on the issue, but he questioned whether there are any substantive differences between her approach and Biden’s, which progressive critics of the war say has failed to hold Israel accountable.

“Is there any specific policy change you would like to make as president?” he asked.

Harris reiterated her support for a ceasefire agreement that would end the bloodshed.

“We have to get this deal done, and we have to get it done now. That’s my position and that’s my policy,” Harris said, without drawing a distinction between her plans and Biden’s.

Harris also addressed the alleged assassination attempt on Trump on Sunday, saying she spoke with him about the incident on Tuesday. The foiled plot was the second time Trump has been attacked by a gunman on the campaign trail, after he was shot in the ear during a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“I checked on him and told him what I have said publicly: ‘Political violence has no place in our country,’” Harris said.

Harris also addressed concerns about her own safety, particularly in regards to the January 6, 2021 incident when a pipe bomb was found outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters while she was inside.

She said she feels confident in the Secret Service’s ability to protect her safety: “Yes, I feel safe. I have Secret Service protection,” she said.

But she later changed the subject and said that many other people feel threatened by GOP policies and rhetoric, such as LGBTQ residents who feel targeted by Republican state officials in Florida and immigrants who have been the subject of false and demonizing anecdotes from Trump.

Harris said Trump’s repeated debunking of false reports that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, is “a disgrace.”

“I feel like my heart is breaking for this community,” Harris said, citing the example of schools in Springfield being evacuated because of threats.

Trump has stepped up his anti-immigration rhetoric, spreading lies about towns like Charleroi, Pennsylvania, a small community in Washington County.

“You cannot be trusted to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States of America and spew this hateful rhetoric that, as usual, is designed to divide us as a country,” Harris said.

Harris’ visit coincided with a four-day White House conference on HBCUs in Philadelphia, where Biden spoke the previous day.

Morgan State University senior Zakaiya Williams boarded a bus from Maryland to Philadelphia to hear Harris speak Tuesday. Before the event began, she said she was most interested in Harris’ response to Israel’s war on Hamas.

After Harris’ speech, Williams said her response to questions about the Gaza conflict was lackluster.

“She didn’t answer as directly as I expected,” Williams said.

Howard University senior Danilo Wrightsell said the campus is abuzz with support for Harris’ presidential campaign, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the historically black university’s homecoming. Harris is a Howard graduate and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha at the college in 1986.

“A lot of people are really excited about it,” he said. “There’s a lot of pride going on on campus.”