Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Her Economic Vision

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+2.1

+2.8

64%

58%

Ruhle: “I just laid out your economic vision for the future, but still, there are lots of Americans who don’t see themselves in your plans. For those who say, ‘These policies aren’t for me,’ what do you say to them?”

Harris: “Well, if you are hard-working, if you have the dreams and the ambitions and aspirations of— what I believe you do—then you’re in my plan. I have to tell you, I really love and I’m so energized by what I know to be the spirit and character of the American people. We have ambition, we have aspirations, we have dreams. We can see what’s possible. We have an incredible work ethic. But not everyone has access to the opportunities that allow them to achieve those things. We don’t lack for those things, but not everyone has had stuff handed to them on a silver platter. And so, my vision for the economy—I call it an opportunity economy—is about making sure that all Americans, wherever they start, wherever they are, have the ability to actually achieve those dreams and those ambitions, which  include, for  middle-class families, just being able to know that their hard work allows them to get ahead, right. I think we can’t and we shouldn’t aspire to have an economy that just allows people to get by. People want to do more than just get by; they want to get ahead. And I come from the middle class. Look,  my mother raised my sister and me. She worked hard; she saved up. By the time I was a teenager, she was able to buy our first home. And homeownership for too many people in our country now is elusive. You know, gone is the day of everyone thinking they could actually live the American Dream. So, part of my vision for the economy is let’s deal with some of the everyday challenges that people face and address them with common-sense solutions, such as affordable housing.”

Oprah Interview: On the Cost of Living For Young People

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+2.0

+2.0

64%

58%

Town Hall Participant: “I’m 24 years old, I’m a graduate student living with my parents, and I want to move out next year and potentially buy a home. And I’m concerned about the affordability of one with the extra costs and bills I’m paying now, along with the bills I will pay in the future too. And so, everything has a cost and is so expensive, and I’m worried about my capacity and how I’m able to fully support myself once I do live independently.”

Harris: “Well, so first of all, congratulations on all the success you’ve already achieved. Your story, and the stories of our friends before you, is really—that’s the American story, right? You are working hard. You have goals, you have ambitions. And so part of it is, again, the $25,000 down payment assistance. Part of it is what we need to do to also push back against a very different vision for our country, because looking at this election, there are two very different visions for our country One, from me, that is focused on the future, including you, and another that is focused on the past. What Donald Trump—my opponent—plans to do with the economy is what he did the last time he was president and giving another tax break for billionaires and the biggest corporations that would add $5 trillion to our deficit. And get this: he plans on doing what I call a Trump sales tax, which is basically he’s going to put a 20% tax on everyday necessities, that economists have estimated will cost Americans $4,000 more a year—which is why Goldman Sachs, which is why Moody’s, which is why Wharton School of Business, which is why 16 Nobel laureates— have collectively determined, after analyzing our plans, one, mine would strengthen the economy; his would weaken it. Two, that on his plan, he would actually blow up inflation and invite a recession by the middle of next year. So when you think about the cost of living, my approach is about lifting you up; his would be about actually weakening our economy. And I feel very strongly: when an individual, when a small business, when a family, when the middle class is strong, America is strong.”

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Corporate Greed and Inflation

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+2.0

+2.7

63%

57%

Ruhle: “The last few years there has been inflation. Luckily, it’s cooling, but prices are still hot. … You said you want to take this on, by going after those who engage in price gouging. But as somebody who supports free markets, who’s the capitalist, how do you stop price gouging without implementing price controls? Because once we get into this zone, people start to get worried, they say,  ‘I don’t know what you stand for.’” 

Harris: “So just to be very frank, I am never going to apologize for going after companies and corporations that take advantage of the desperation of the American people. And I, as Attorney General, I saw this happen in the midst of an emergency, whether it be an extreme weather event or even the pandemic we saw it. Where those few companies—not the majority, not most—but those few companies that would take advantage of the desperation of people and jack up prices. Yeah, I’m going to go after them. Yes, I’m going to go after them. And that is part of a much more comprehensive plan on what we can do to bring down the cost of living, including housing, including the everyday needs of the American people.”

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On American Manufacturing and Trump’s Tariffs

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.9

+2.4

63%

57%

Harris: “Well, here’s the thing, back to your point about previous election cycles. Donald Trump made a whole lot of promises that he did not meet, and one would argue, broke. Look at Lordstown. He said, ‘Don’t sell your homes,’ and what happened? It shut down. Outsourcing under Donald Trump, his policies that are about putting tens to hundreds of percent tariffs. … So part of the challenge—and I don’t disagree that it’s a challenge, got to earn the vote of everybody—is reminding people of fact, regardless of what somebody says in a small rally somewhere, and I think that’s really important. And that’s part of what I’m doing in this campaign, is to remind people, just like here in Pittsburgh, of the reality of who has stood with union labor, who stands for American manufacturing, who stands for American jobs.”

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Reproductive Freedom and Women’s Trust 

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.8

+2.7

63%

58%

Ruhle: “‘You have laid out policy in great detail, but the economy is an unpredictable beast, and you’re running for a job that takes extraordinary instinct and guts. What’s the last time you had to make a gut decision? This here is is very prescribed, is very controlled.

Harris: “Probably the biggest gut decisions I’ve made most recently is to choose my running mate. There were lots of good, credible candidates, and ultimately that came down to a gut decision.”

Ruhle: “I know I’m out of time, but I just want to ask you a question from my gut, because today, we’re talking about the ecnomy, and people don’t think often about reproductive rights being an economic issue, but it is. A woman’s ability to plan her future, her education, her life. Today, and in the last few days, Donald Trump keeps talking about it and how, in overturning Roe v. Wade, he helped women, he protected women. He says they’re miserable today, they’re poorer today, they’re more vulnerable today. He said he will be the protector of women if elected. Can you respond to that?”

Harris: “So, Donald Trump is also the person who said women should be punished for exercising a decision that they rightly should be able to make about their own body and their future. So, I think we would all agree that, as a result of that perspective that he has about women, he also then chose three members of the United States Supreme Court, who did as he intended and ended the protections of Roe v. Wade. And now, in state after state, you see laws being passed that do punish women. Laws that, I mean, most recently a heartbreaking story resulted in a young woman dying, a mother of a six-year-old. Heart-wrenching stories, and that’s for the listener, much less their family. So look, I think the thing about Donald Trump is that, you know, I don’t think the women of America need him to say he’s going to protect them. The women of America need him to truth them.

Ruhle: “Can we trust you?”

Harris: Yes.  I am not perfect, but I will tell you I’m always going to put the needs of the people first.”

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Tax Policy

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.8

+2.5

64%

57%

Ruhle: “Then let me ask you about taxes, because lots of people will say, ‘I don’t like Donald Trump, but he cut my taxes.’ He didn’t just cut corporate taxes,; he cut individual taxes. Now, that expires next year and there are some people confused, saying, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen next year.’ Under a Harris administration. At what income level can someone expect their taxes to go up? And that state and local tax deduction that’s currently capped, it matters to a lot of people in blue states. Are you going to lift that cap?”

Harris: “So, first of all, when it relates to anybody making less than $400,000 a year, your taxes will not go up. Your taxes will not go up. And in fact, under my plan, taxes for 100 million Americans will actually be cut, including $6,000 a year for young couples for the first year of their child’s life, and a tax cut—a tax credit, essentially—b yexpansion of the Child Tax Credit. And why is that? Because during the first year of a young couple of a person’s child’s life, they are going to need help buying a crib, buying a car seat, and we all benefit when they’re actually able to do what they naturally want to do: take care of their child.”

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Steel Manufacturing in PA and Country 

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.8

+2.6

66%

59%

Ruhle:  “When you think Pennsylvania, when you think Pittsburgh, you got the Liberty Bell in Philly, and you got U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh. A Japanese company wants to buy them. You are opposed to this idea. Many people are. But if the deal doesn’t go through, they have said people could lose jobs, they close mills, they could leave the state of Pennsylvania. I mean, that is like moving the Liberty Bell to Newark. So which is more important?”

Harris: “It’s most important that we maintain America’s ability to have American manufacturing of steel by American workers, for a number of reasons. Which includes—again, back to the point of growing our economy and how I think about the economy overall—investing in new industries. There is not a new industry that I can imagine that is not going to require steel, the manufacturing of steel, as a fundamental part of what it accomplishes. And having American workers in an American company manufacturing that steel for those new industries is going to be critically important, not only in terms of our economy, but also in the context of national security. Most people now realize, if we didn’t before the pandemi—and the strain on supply chains and an over-reliance on foreign manufacturing—that we have to be intentional about U.S.-based manufacturing and of the products that we have to prioritize, steel is one of them, and that’s always going to be my priority.”

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Working at McDonald’s

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.8

+2.7

62%

56%

Ruhle: “Just to fact check, because your opponent almost every day seems to be talking about this. So I just want to ask you yes or no, at any point in your life, have you served two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun, working at a McDonald’s?”

Harris: “I have…Part of the reason I even talk about having worked at McDonald’s is because there are people who work at McDonald’s in our country who are trying to raise a family—I worked there as a student, I was a kid—who work there trying to raise families and pay rent on that. And I think part of the difference between me and my opponent includes our perspective on the needs of the American people and what our responsibility then is to meet those needs.”

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Housing and Homeownership 

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.8

+2.6

65%

58%

Ruhle:  “For people who want to buy a home, yes, getting a $25,000 kicker would be great. But it’s not just affording a home—we don’t have enough in this country. One of the main problems are regulations and rules—strict, strict rules at a local level. How does the federal government cut through all that red tape and get down to the suburbs of Pittsburgh and say we’re going to have to build some affordable housing here? How do you connect the two?”

Harris: “You’re absolutely right. Across our country, people rightly are concerned about the cost of housing, homeownership. To your point, we need more supply—that is without any question part of the solution. Creating more supply under my plan includes creating tax incentives to work with the private sector and homebuilders. Part of my goal and the plan would be to create 3 million new housing units for rent and for ownership by the end of my first term. It also includes what we must do to cut red tape. You’re absolutely right—it takes far too long, and there’s too much bureaucracy associated with homebuilding. And I say that as a devout public servant; I know that we have to reduce the red tape and speed up what we need to do around building. That is going to require working from the federal level with state and local governments. And it’s going to be different in different places depending on the needs of that community, the needs of that local government, that municipality—but working in consultation and coordination and also around incentives that we can create. For example, some of the work is going to be through what we do in terms of giving benefits and assistance to state and local governments around transit dollars—and looking holistically at the connection between that and housing, and looking holistically at the incentives we in the federal government can create for local and state governments to actually engage in planning in a holistic manner that includes prioritizing affordable housing for working people.”

Oprah Interview: On Cost of Living and Housing Costs

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.8

+1.8

62%

58%

Town Hall Participant: “We are experiencing a very high cost of living. We ended up giving up our apartment, moving in with our parents, who were so gracious to take us in for over a year so that we could save money and ultimately buy a home. Because that’s what we thought the American Dream was—to get married and buy a home and have a baby. And now, here we are, and our mortgage is incredibly higher than what we thought it would be. And my sister and our brother-in-law are living with us right now so that they can hopefully one day do the same. While it’s beneficial for us because they help us pay off some of our mortgage, it’s also beneficial for them because they  can save on cheaper rent—but we would really love to know what your plan is to help lower the cost of living.”

Harris: “Yeah, first of all, thank you both for being here. And yours is a story I hear around the country as I travel, in terms of both rightly having the right to have aspirations and dreams and ambitions for your family, and working hard and finding that the American Dream is—for this generation and so many recently—far more elusive than it’s been. And we need to deal with that. There are a number of ways. One is bringing down the cost of everyday necessities, including groceries. So that’s why I’m taking on, for example, price gouging—which is when, you know, most companies and corporations are good, but for those bad ones, they take advantage of people, especially during a pandemic or extreme weather, and they end up jacking up prices. And there needs to be accountability and consequence for that So I’m going to be taking on price gouging. But it’s also about dealing with what we need to do around homeownership, right? So, as someone mentioned during this film—I grew up a child of a mother who worked very hard.  She raised me and my sister, and she saved up, and by the time I was a teenager, she was able to buy a home. And we grew up, actually for a long time, in an apartment on top of a childcare center that was owned by the woman we called our second mother, because she helped my mother raise us, and she was a small business owner, Ms. Shelton. So I’ll bring all this together to tell you the way I think about it is, one, when people work hard and have a dream of buying a home, we should give you the opportunity to be able to do that. Which is why part of my plan is for first-time homebuyers to have a $25,000 down payment assistance to buy your first home, because people just need to be able to get their  foot in the door, and then you’ll do the hard work. Part of my plan is what we need to do to support small businesses, because my second mother was a small business owner, and I love our small businesses and our small business owners. They are not only business leaders; they’re community leaders. They mentor, they hire locally.  And we have so many entrepreneurs in our country who have great ideas, incredible work ethic, but not necessarily access to capital because not everybody—like my opponent—was handed $400 million on a silver plate that he filed bankruptcy six times on.  And so, part of my plan is to give startup small businesses a $50,000 tax deduction to start up their small business. Right now, it’s $5,000—no one can start a small business with $5,000. So that’s part of my plan.”

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Corporate Tax Policy

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.7

+2.6

62%

59%

Ruhle:  “Expanding that Child Tax Credit, or you mentioned housing before—giving that extra money for a first home. If you can’t raise corporate taxes or if GOP takes control of the Senate, where do you get the money to do that? Do you still go forward with those plans and borrow?”

Harris: “Well, but we’re gonna have to raise corporate taxes and we’re going to have to raise—we’re going to have to make sure that the biggest corporations and billionaires pay their fair share. That’s just it. It’s about paying their fair share. I am not mad at anyone for achieving success, but everyone should pay their fair share. And it is not right that the teachers and the firefighters I meet every day across our country are paying a higher tax than the richest people in our country.”

Ruhle:  “How do you find that line to make sure corporations are paying their fair share, but they’re not leaving our country?”

Harris: “Well, listen, I work with a lot of CEOs. I have spent a lot of time with CEOs. And I’m going to tell you that the business leaders who are actually part of the engine of America’s economy agree that people should pay their fair share. They also agree that when we look at a plan such as mine, that is about investing in the middle class, investing in new industries, investing in bringing down costs,  investing in entrepreneurs like small businesses, the overall economy is stronger and everyone benefits. Part of my plan for the economy is investing in new industries in a way that we have active partnership with the private sector. I’ve worked with the private sector my entire career.  Even as Vice President, working with some of the biggest banks and biggest tech companies to increase by billions of dollars the money going into community banks to increase access to capital for small businesses. Why do those biggest corporations and CEOs do that? Because they know those kinds of investments, like in our small businesses, in startups and entrepreneurs, actually strengthens America’s economy overall and everyone benefits. So this is not bilking anybody; but it is certainly about saying, let’s make sure that we create opportunities for everyone to grow wealth.”

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: Contrasting Trump’s Economic Policy 

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.7

+2.6

62%

58%

Ruhle:  “Over the last four years, there have been tremendous economic gains, and you’ve just laid out a big plan. But still, polling shows that most likely voters still think Donald Trump is better to handle the economy. Why do you think that is?”

Harris: “Well, here’s what I know in terms of the facts. Donald Trump left us with the worst economy since the Great Depression. When you look at, for example, the employment numbers…”

Ruhle:  “It was during COVID, and unemployment was so high because we shut down the government. We shut down the country.” 

Harris: “Even before the pandemic, he lost manufacturing jobs—by most people’s estimates, at least 200,000. He lost manufacturing plants—ask the auto workers how he lost auto plants. We have grown over 20 new auto plants. He has an agenda—let’s just deal with right now going forward, not to mention what happened in the past. He has an agenda that would include making it more difficult for workers to earn overtime, an agenda that would include cutting off access to small business loans for small businesses, an agenda that includes tariffs to the point that the average working person will spend 20% more on everyday necessities and an estimated $4,000 more a year on those everyday necessities. To the point that top economists in our country—from Nobel laureates to people at Moody’s and Goldman Sachs—have compared my plan with his and said my plan would grow the economy, his would shrink  the economy. Some of them have actually assessed that his plan would increase inflation and invite a recession by the middle of next year. So the facts remain that Donald Trump has a history of taking care of very rich people. And I’m not mad at anybody for being rich, but they should pay their fair share. But tax cuts for the billionaires and the top corporations in our country—and then not really paying much attention to middle-class families. My perspective on the economy is when you grow the middle class, America’s economy is stronger, and there’s empirical evidence to prove my point correct.”

Oprah Interview: On Gun Policy

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.6

+2.0

65%

57%

Town Hall Participant:  “If he knew he would get caught, the likelihood of him trying—there may be another target, but it wouldn’t be us having to worry about schools being hardened.”

Harris: “Yeah. I mean, I think that [town hall participant] has said it so eloquently, which is we just need to apply common sense. And look, I think for far too long on the issue of gun violence, some people have been pushing a really false choice to suggest you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away. I’m in favor of the Second Amendment, and I’m in favor of assault weapons bans, universal background checks, red flag laws. And these are just common sense.” 

Oprah: “You were so powerful at the debate, when you said you have guns…But you have been a gun owner for a while.”

Harris: “Yes I have. But here’s my point, is that I’m not trying to take everyone’s guns away. I believe in the Second Amendment, but we have to agree that—look, I did last fall a college tour with college-age young people…Packed audiences every time in the auditorium, and I would ask, ‘Please raise your hand if at any point between kindergarten and 12th grade you had to ensure an active shooter drill. Almost every hand went up. It was bone-chilling…And think about it, you know, I grew up—we had fire drills only, well I grew up in California so we also had earthquake drills. The fact that our children are sitting in a classroom where they should be fulfilling their God-given potential and exploring the wonders of the world, and some part of their brain realizes that somebody could burst through that classroom door with a weapon—with an assault weapon. And let’s all agree that the trauma so many children—even those who have not directly experienced the tragedy… I cannot tell you the number of young people who—I mean, our kids had active shooter drills—their concern that there might be someone that might kill them while they’re at school. This is not the sign of a civil society, and it doesn’t have to be this way. But we need to have the courage to act. My opponent, when he was told and knew about a shooting of a young girl—you know what he said? ‘Get over it.’ ‘Get over it.’ No, we’re not getting over it. And to the point, everyone should have a sense of collective responsibility for the children of our community and understand their right to live and be safe. I have personally prosecuted homicide cases…I’ve seen what these weapons do to the human body. And we’ve got to agree that, particularly  when we’re talking about something like an assault weapon—it’s literally designed to be a tool of war. It has no place on the streets of a civil society. It’s designed to kill a lot of human beings quickly. And there are things we can do.”

Oprah Interview: On Immigration and Border Priorities

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.6

+1.9

63%

57%

Oprah: When you become president, what would be your specific steps?

Harris: So it’s a wonderful and important question. You know, my background was as a prosecutor, and I was also the elected Attorney General for two terms of the state of California. So this is not a theoretical issue for me; this is something I’ve actually worked on. I have prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings. I take very seriously the importance of having a secure border and ensuring the safety of the American people. Sadly, where we are now can be traced most recently back to the fact that when the United States Congress—members of Congress, including some of the most conservative Republicans—came up with a border security bill. What that border security bill would have done is it would have put 1,500 more border agents at the border, which is probably why the Border Patrol actually endorsed the bill. It would have allowed us to stem the flow of fentanyl, and I’m looking at people from all over the country here, so I don’t need to tell the folks who are watching this what fentanyl has done to families, to kids in our country, and the need to take seriously stemming the flow coming into our country and addressing that extraordinary and tragic impact it has. The bill would have allowed us to have more resources to prosecute transnational criminal organizations. And it would have been part of the solution. And Donald Trump called up those folks and said, ‘Don’t put that bill on the floor for a vote.’ He blocked the bill. I don’t know why. Does he prefer to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem?

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Tariffs

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.6

+2.8

65%

58%

Ruhle: President Trump had tariffs. President Biden has tariffs and says he’s actually looking to potentially implement more. Where do you come out on this? Is there a role for tariffs across the board?

Harris: And that’s part of the problem with Donald Trump. Frankly, I am going to—and I say this in all sincerity—one must be serious and have a plan. Any real plan is not just about some talking point ending in an exclamation at a political rally but actually putting thought into what will be the return on the investment. What will be the economic impact on everyday people? And when you look at my plans, you will see what those benefits will be: $25,000 down payment assistance for first-time home buyers—you know what that means? You’re creating the ability of that working person to build intergenerational wealth. Doing the work of the $6,000 child tax credit, doing the work of a $50,000 tax deduction for first-time small business startups. Because right now, paying attention to the details is important, and I’m serious about it. I’m serious about my enthusiasm and my small businesses and my belief in what they will do as part of America’s economic engine. The current tax deduction is $5,000. Nobody in this year of our Lord 2024 can start a small business with $5,000—very few can. So increasing it to a $50,000 tax deduction for startups will generate the innovation and ambition of the ideas that are present among us but need the fuel to actually achieve the goal. His plan is not serious.

Oprah Interview: On the Responsibility of the Role

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.6

+1.6

62%

54%

Oprah: How do you feel about the responsibility that comes with your position?

Harris: ‘A sense of responsibility, to be honest with you, and with that comes a sense of purpose. But I mean, we’re all here, and you all are taking time out of your busy lives—everyone here, everyone on this train—because there really is so much at stake. You know, I have spent the majority of my career being concerned about the well-being of other people. When I approached a victim or witness, I didn’t ask them, ‘Are you a Republican or Democrat?’ The only thing I said was, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?’ I’ve heard that, you know, with me taking terms of fighting against hate and those efforts to divide us, I do know that I’m in a position to do something about it. It’s responsibilities and the incredible power of the people, right? I’m not the only leader; this world is so much bigger than me, including the importance of freedom, the importance of independence, and the importance of our values. I think it suggests that the measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down—come on—the real measure of the strength of a leader. And it’s important for us.

Oprah Interview: On President Biden Stepping Aside

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.5

+1.7

63%

56%

Oprah:  I have to say this because in all of my private conversations, Gil and I have said, it seems to us that something happened to you the moment Joe Biden stepped aside and withdrew his candidacy. It’s like a veil dropped and you just stepped into your power. What happened to you? You know, we each have those moments in our lives where it’s time to step up. I mean, I really have been saying to people that it felt like a veil dropped and you sort of stepped through that veil. Did that—actually, did you feel like that?

Harris: I felt a sense of responsibility, to be honest with you, and with that comes a sense of purpose. But I mean, we’re all here, and you all are taking time out of your busy lives—everyone here, everyone on this train—because there really is so much at stake. You know, I have spent the majority of my career being concerned about the well-being of other people. As I said in my career as a prosecutor, I never looked at a victim or witness and asked them, ‘Are you a Republican or a Democrat?’ The only thing I’ve ever asked was, ‘Are you okay? Are you okay?’ And when I think about traveling this country and knowing what is at stake in terms of fundamental freedoms, what’s at stake in terms of fighting against hate and those efforts to divide, and I do know that I’m in a position to do something about it. So I felt a great responsibility and the incredible power of the people—right—who, and I’m not the only leader in this, we’re all leaders in this; it’s so much bigger than me. And it’s about making clear what we stand for, and what we stand for is about the ideals upon which we were founded, including the importance of freedom and the importance of independence and the importance of dignity and purpose. But it is also about what we stand for in terms of our values. I think of it this way when boiled down to a value that I just said, which is that the measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down—come on—the real measure of the strength of a leader.

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Tariffs and Prices

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.5

+2.5

62%

55%

Ruhle:  As you just mentioned, it’s not just with one company. Donald Trump’s sort of big idea is this broad based tariffs across the board. You and many others have said that would be not only disastrous, but it would be a direct tax on the American consumer.

Harris: It would be a sales tax on the American people that the independent economists have already measured this by his the sales tax of doing a 20% tariffs on all imports that he has described would be a 20% sales tax, in essence, on basic necessities for the average American worker, average American family, totaling almost $4,000 a year. That is no small matter here in Pittsburgh, when I’m talking to a group of folks who work here, who live here, and when they hear it might be $4,000 more a year for them. Look, people can’t afford that.

Oprah Interview: On Potential Political Violence

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.5

+1.8

63%

56%

Oprah: I wonder if we’re ready for January 7th. What happens?

Harris: So, we will be ready, but just taking a step back—and thank you, Marilyn, for the gift that you give, your talent, your creativity. Thank you for being here. One of the things that I have realized in the course of our campaign is that more Americans than we may realize, who voted for Trump before, have decided January 6th was just a bridge too far. When we reflect and think about what January 6th was, where the President of the United States, sitting in the Oval Office, incited a mob—a violent mob—to attack the United States Capitol, such that 140 law enforcement officers were injured, some were killed, to try and upend a free and fair election which the American people voted. That was a bridge too far for a lot of people. And we have sadly now seen how far he could go, and I think there is absolutely no tolerance whatsoever from the vast majority of Americans for that. And they’ve seen the lies; they understand, for example, almost every court case—I think every court case—where his challenge was, he actually lost. I thought under the basis, look, because he’s having a very difficult time obviously processing the fact that 81 million people fired him. So there is that—that it really was a bridge too far for so many people that they’re not willing to repeat. But the other piece of it is the lawyers are working. It’s very important that we all speak to our friends and our neighbors about misinformation and help them see how it occurs, where it is occurring. It is important that we stand up for the integrity of poll workers and people who are working on Election Day. And that we also—this is critically important—that we ask people to be alert about misinformation, and we ask them, do not be afraid to vote. Because I think there is also something quite insidious about these attacks on the electorate, in its various forms, that are intended to convince people that their vote won’t matter. And in that way, there’s a little bit of reverse psychology going on here, and let’s just make sure nobody falls for it. It does matter, and we cannot let anyone ever take our power from us. We can never let anybody silence us. And when we get those votes out starting soon—our early voting is already going to start this week, I think through November 5th—and let’s make sure everyone votes, and we are going to have a good Election Day. We’re going to fight for the integrity of the people’s voice and for our democracy, and, you know, I’ll just mention earlier, a couple of folks talked about what this means in terms of the world. You know, for me, as Vice President, I have met over 150 world leaders: presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, and kings. And the thing about representing the United States of America is when we walk in those rooms around the world, we have historically and traditionally been able to walk in those rooms chin up

Stephanie Ruhle Interview: On Immigration and the Border

Harris Support Effect Size

Harris Favorability Effect Size 

View Harris Positively After Seeing Clip

Feel They Know More About Harris After Seeing Clip

+1.5

+2.6

62%

57%

Ruhle:  On Friday, you were going to the border. Immigration is complicated. One of the issues is an economic one. And no one is eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, and I’m glad not to be talking about that, but there are people there that are stressed, who feel that they’re at capacity—communities around the country that have legal immigration. Many have said, ‘We’re at capacity,’ and they feel like the government has said to them, ‘Adapt, sit down, and be quiet. This is how it is.’ What do we do for those communities?

Harris: First of all, we do have a broken immigration system, and it needs to be fixed. And if we take a step back months ago, some of the most conservative members of the United States Congress came together with others and proposed the Border Security Bill that would have put 1,500 new border agents on the border to help those hard-working border agents who are there right now working around the clock, to put more money into stemming the flow of fentanyl, which is killing Americans around our country and devastating communities, would have put more resources into our ability to prosecute transnational criminal organizations, which in my career I’ve prosecuted. Donald Trump got word of the bill, realized it was going to fix the problem he wanted to run on, and told them to kill the bill—’Don’t put it up for a vote.’ He kills a bill that would have actually been a solution because he wants to run on a problem instead of fixing the problem. And that’s part of what needs to be addressed. And my pledge is that when elected president, if the American people will have me, I will bring that bill back, and I will sign it into law. And we need a comprehensive plan that includes what we need to do to fortify not only our border but deal with the fact that we also need to create pathways for people to earn citizenship.