Kamala Harris reluctant to draw campaign contrasts with Joe Biden

WASHINGTON — It’s hardly a “gotcha question.” And by now, the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris surely knows it’s coming.
Yet Harris has struggled to answer a basic question she keeps getting asked: What would you do differently than President Joe Biden?
During television appearances Tuesday on The View and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the vice president declined to distance herself in any meaningful way from the sitting president – her boss – when posed with different versions of that question.
More:Can you be the change candidate and the sitting VP? Kamala Harris is trying
Her reluctance to draw a line between any of Biden’s policies or actions – instead choosing overwhelming loyalty to the outgoing commander-in-chief – comes as Harris is trying to maintain a balancing act: campaigning as the change candidate even though she’s an incumbent vice president.
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“There is not a thing that comes to mind,” Harris said on the The View when one of the hosts, Sunny Hostin, asked whether she would have done anything differently than Biden over the past four years. “And I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.”
Moments earlier, Hostin had asked Harris to detail the “biggest specific difference” between a Biden and Harris presidency. The vice president didn’t engage.
“Well, we’re obviously two different people, and we have a lot of shared life experiences,” Harris responded. “For example, the way we feel about our family and or parents and so on. But we’re also different people, and I will bring those sensibilities to how I lead.”
More:Harris hits Trump on ‘The View,’ declines to distance herself from Biden
The Trump campaign has worked to tie Harris to the unpopularity of the 81-year-old Biden, who dropped out of the race in July amid concerns over his age and whose approval rating remains in the low 40s in most polls.
While Harris has campaigned on “not going back” and “turning the page” from the era of Trump, the Trump campaign has reminded Americans that their anxieties about the economy and migration at the southern border came while Harris was working directly alongside Biden.
The Trump campaign quickly seized on Harris’ exchange on The View, posting its footage on X, formerly Twitter, and presenting it as a new ad. “I’m Donald J. Trump and I approve this message,” Trump says at the end of the campaign’s video.
Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist, said she didn’t expect Harris would go on national television “and dime out” her boss. Yet she suggested Harris had an opportunity to make a distinction with Biden by citing the very proposal she came on The View to highlight: a proposed Medicare expansion to include at-home care for aging parents.
“Ironically, she was actually there to talk about a policy that is a differentiator from what President Biden has done,” Kinney said during a Tuesday appearance on CNN. “So, I wish she would have referred to that.”
In her abbreviated campaign for president, Harris has chosen not to stray from Biden’s position over Israel’s war in Gaza, the president’s economic agenda or other top administration priorities. Harris’ biggest policy departure came in early September when she backed a more modest increase to the capital-gains tax rate than Biden unveiled in his budget proposal to Congress earlier this year.
More:Harris cracks open a beer and knocks Trump with Stephen Colbert. Here are five takeaways
Yet with Americans overwhelming saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, both Trump and Harris have sought to stake their claim as the change candidate. A New York Times/Siena College poll this week found more voters see Harris as the candidate who represents change, by a 46%-44% margin, suggesting Harris’ messaging has been effective even without major policy differences from Biden.
Harris’ pitch for change is bolstered by her biography. She would be the first female president if elected, and she is the first Black and Asian female presidential nominee of a major party. Harris is also 59 years old, making her young relative to Biden and the 78-year-old Trump.
Later in The View interview, Harris identified one difference with Biden, albeit a small one – she said she plans on having a Republican in her Cabinet.
“You asked me what’s the biggest difference between Joe Biden and me. Well, that will be one of the difference. I’m going to have a Republican in my Cabinet,” Harris said, reciting a promise she made earlier in the campaign. “Because I don’t feel burdened by letting pride get in the way of a good idea.”
More:Harris announces rare policy break with Biden on capital-gains tax rate
A few hours later, during a taped appearance on The Late Show, which aired Tuesday night, Colbert asked Harris a similar question: What major changes would there be under a Harris presidency compared to Biden and what would remain the same?
“Well, I mean, I’m obviously not Joe Biden,” Harris said. “So that would be one change. But also, I think it’s important to say with 28 days to go, I’m not Donald Trump.”
She then shifted away from the premise of the question.
“I love the American people and I believe in our country. I love that it is our character and nature to be an ambitious people,” Harris said. “I just believe that we can create and build upon the success we’ve achieved.”
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
(This story has been updated with a new headline.)