NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris just before her rally at the Talking Stick Amphitheatre in Phoenix on Thursday afternoon. Read the full transcript:
ALCINDOR: Thank you so much for speaking with me, Madam Vice President. What concerns you most when you think about how close this election is and these key swing states that you need to win?
HARRIS: It is my responsibility to be everywhere I can to talk directly with voters and talk to them about the issues that are at stake in this election so that I can earn their vote. So that’s why I’m here today in Arizona, why yesterday I was in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. And I’m going to be all over the country pretty much — especially in the swing states — talking with folks about the issues that relate to them and the contrast between me and Donald Trump.
ALCINDOR: Former first lady Michelle Obama said she stays up at night wondering why this election is so close. Do you do that? What keeps you up at night?
HARRIS: What keeps me up at night are the challenges that face the American family and my role and responsibility and my to-do list to address those issues. Whether it be on bringing down the cost of groceries, bringing down the cost of housing, what we need to do to make sure that child care is affordable for working families, what I will do to make sure that Medicare covers in-home care for seniors. Those are the things that keep me up, which is doing the work that will directly impact the people of America.
And this, again, is a big contrast between me and Donald Trump. He spends full time talking about himself, his personal grievances, his enemies list. On Day One, I will walk into the Oval Office with my to-do list, which is about helping the American people deal with their challenges and also tap into their ambitions and dreams.
ALCINDOR: Former President Donald Trump has said that he would be a protector of women, whether they like it or not. What do you make of that, and how does that contrast with your views on women and their rights and needs?
HARRIS: Well, I’ll just speak on behalf of myself, but also the Americans that I speak with every day around our country, regardless of their gender, which is the majority of Americans, believe that women are intelligent enough and should have and be respected for their agency to make decisions for themselves about what is in their best interest and not have their government, and certainly not Donald Trump, telling them what to do.
And his latest comment is just the most recent in a series of examples that we have seen from him, in his words and deeds, about he — how he devalues the ability of women to have the choice and the freedom to make decisions about their own body.
ALCINDOR: Former President Trump also rode around in a garbage truck to call attention to President Biden’s comments about his supporters and their rhetoric. Are you concerned that President Biden’s comments might undermine your own messaging that you want to be a president for all Americans?
HARRIS: Well, I’ve addressed how I feel about those comments. One, that the president explained what he meant, but two, I do not believe, and I will speak for myself, that we should ever criticize people based on who they vote for.
But let’s understand again where we are in this election. On the one hand, you have Donald Trump, who refers to people by the most demeaning words, who attempts to really take from them the dignity that they so rightly deserve. He is someone who talks full-time about the enemy within. He speaks ill of America. He refers to us as a garbage can, and he does not understand that most people are exhausted with his rhetoric, exhausted with that approach, exhausted with an approach that Donald Trump has that's trying to divide our country and have Americans point fingers at each other. They’re done with it, and they’re ready to turn the page and accept and receive a new generation of leadership, which I offer.
ALCINDOR: As he and his supporters grab on to that language, though, from President Biden, you’re not at all concerned that that might undermine your messaging?
HARRIS: I am very clear that in this election what the American people want most is to know that I have a plan, that we have a plan to bring down the cost of living and invest in American families, invest in small businesses, invest in our economy. I am proud that I have the support of leading economists in our nation who recognize that I actually have a specific plan and that it will strengthen America’s economy. He has very little of a plan besides giving tax breaks to the richest people, and his plan, whatever it may be, will actually weaken our economy.
ALCINDOR: I’ve talked to Americans from all across this country in all walks of life who are inspired by your story. What’s your message to them as they are looking at your journey, especially the history that you are making and might make as the first Black woman and Indian woman to break down this, this glass ceiling? And even now, of course, making the history that you’re making now?
HARRIS: Well, you know, you’ve probably heard me say many times my mother said to me, 'Kamala, you may be the first to do many things; make sure you’re not the last.' And what I see in the people who are coming to rallies such as this are, you know, young men, young women, people of every age, every background, every race, who are excited about the possibility of a new generation of leadership and excited about the fact that they have a choice to have a president of the United States who actually sees them, gets them and wants to do the hard work that is about improving their life.
ALCINDOR: Day One, what’s your first executive action?
HARRIS: Well, my first priority, which will be probably the package of bills, is about bringing down the cost of living. So it’s about housing, it’s about child care, it’s about what we need to do to deal with grocery prices. So it’s not one, but it’s a package that is, with one singular purpose, bringing down the cost of living.
ALCINDOR: We have to go, but you talk about your mother, and what would you — what do you think your mother would be telling you in these final days before this election against Donald Trump?
HARRIS: Just go beat him. That’s probably what she’d say. Yeah, that’s my mother.
ALCINDOR: OK, well, I know she gave you a lot of lessons. So thank you so much.
HARRIS: Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Good to talk with you.