The 24 most important lines from Kamala Harris' NABJ interview

Here we go!

Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t talk to the media much. (The New York Times said on Tuesday that she has given 6 total interviews in 58 days as a candidate.)

So, when she DOES talk to reporters, I pay attention. Which brings me to an interview Harris gave to the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Harris was interviewed by three reporters: Eugene Daniels of Politico, TheGrio’s Gerren Gaynor and WHYY’s Tonya Mosley.

I got the transcript — and went through it line by line. The stuff you need to see is below.

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To the Lines!

1. “Four years ago, when we came in, we came in during the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. We came in during the worst public health epidemic in centuries. We came in after the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War, and a lot of it due in large part to the mismanagement by the former president as it relates to COVID, and obviously, January 6th”

This is Harris’ answer as to whether Americans are better off four years ago than they are today. She obviously thinks so but it’s also worth noting that she doesn’t actually say it. Harris also passed on answering a declarative “yes” on the “are we better off” question at the debate last week.

2. “As of today, we have created over 16 million new jobs, over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs.”

Technically this is true — the Biden Administration has added 15.7 million jobs since coming into office. But, the numbers are skewed due to the massive unemployment (nearly 15%) during the heat of the Covid pandemic. We were at an artificial job low because of the pandemic. So, while Harris isn’t wrong, her claims definitely need more context.

3. “Is the price of groceries still too high? Yes. Do we have more work to do? Yes.”

This is why Harris will not simply say that we are better off than we were four years ago. Because she knows that lots of Americans do not feel that way when it comes to their daily lives. By the way, this chart on grocery prices since 2019 is very, very insightful when it comes to the election and how people are thinking about it:

4. “And I will tell you, I do believe that I offer a new generation of leadership for our country that is about, in particular, turning the page on an era that, sadly, has shown us attempts by some to incite fear, to create division in our country, and to do the work that is about bringing some level of optimism, and dare I say, ambition about what I know is possible in our country.”

Look, I totally get what she is saying here. She wants to end the Trump era. But, it sound weird to me for the sitting vice president to suggest “turning the page.” Like, you are the page?

5. “And so my plan for the economy includes what I imagine and believe and call a -- a -- an opportunity economy, what we can do to grow an opportunity economy where all people have access to the resources to compete, to apply their incredible work ethic, their ambition, their aspirations and their dreams, and actually not just get by, but get ahead.”

“What I imagine and believe and call.” Er….