4 Takeaways From Harris’s Interview With Charlamagne

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a watch party for her iHeart radio conversation with host Charlamagne at Cred Cafe in Detroit on Oct. 15. Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images

As recent polling shows an increasingly narrow race between the two presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris is on an interview blitz, including an Oct. 15 audio town hall on the “The Breakfast Club” radio show.

Hosted from Detroit in battleground Michigan, the one-hour exchange featured tough questions from listeners. Harris defended her record as a prosecutor, senator, and vice president, while emphasizing policies directed at the black community.

Here are four takeaways from Harris’s appearance.

‘Progressive Prosecutor’

One early criticism of Harris by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), was that she seemed to avoid interviews and media appearances to dodge tough questions.

Right out of the gate, Charlamagne asked Harris about the allegations that she locked up thousands of black men in San Francisco for marijuana violations “to boost your career.”

“Some say you did it out of pure hate for black men. Please tell us the facts,” Charlamagne said.

Harris said it wasn’t true. “I was the most progressive prosecutor in California on marijuana cases and would not send people to jail for simple possession of weed.”

While working as the San Francisco district attorney (DA), Harris presided over more than 1,900 marijuana convictions, at a rate higher than her predecessor.

Some of the former lawyers in her office told the Bay Area News Group that most who were arrested for low-level marijuana possession never saw time behind bars, with just a few dozen being sent to state prison while Harris was DA.

Harris promised to “work on decriminalizing” marijuana as president, and said that the plant’s federal prohibition “disproportionately impact[s] certain populations, and specifically black men.”

Earlier this year, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)—at the direction of the Biden administration—took the first step in reclassifying marijuana as a lower-risk Schedule III drug, as opposed to Schedule I, which is reserved for substances with no medical value and greater risk of user abuse.

Reparations

Some recent polls, including one from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), showed that 63 percent of black voters support Harris, with 13 percent backing Trump. In 2020, President Joe Biden earned 92 percent of their vote.

Harris has recently made pitches to males in that voting bloc, offering her “opportunity agenda for black men,” which includes forgivable business loans of up to $20,000 for black entrepreneurs.

One listener asked if the timing of her proposals was political.

“I’ve been in this race about 70 days,” Harris replied. “What I’m talking about right now is not new and is not for the sake of winning this election. This is about a longstanding commitment.”

Another listener asked Harris if she supported reparations for slavery.

“On the point of reparations, it has to be studied,” Harris said, while spending much of her seven-minute response noting her economic policies for black voters.

“There’s no question [reparations have to be studied]. And I’ve been very clear about that position.”

As a senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation that would have created a commission to study the long-term impacts of slavery and “develop reparation proposals for African Americans.”

Charlamagne also chastised former President Barack Obama for “waving his finger at black men” during a recent Pennsylvania rally. The host asked when white Democratic politicians will wave their fingers at white women and men.

“I think what is happening is that we are all working on reminding people of what is at stake, and that is very important,” Harris said, while touting her support from more than 200 Republicans from past administrations.

Not Scripted, but ‘Disciplined’

Charlamagne opened the interview by mentioning criticisms often coming from Trump and other Republicans.

“Folks say you come off as very scripted, they say you like to stick to your talking points,” the host said.

Harris replied that she viewed that as “disciplined,” prompting Charlamagne to clarify.

“Some people say you have an inability to fearlessly say who you are and what you believe,” he said. “What do you say to that criticism, and is it fearful?”

Harris first complimented actor Maya Rudolph’s portrayal of her on Saturday Night Live—which satirizes some of the vice president’s speaking style—before defending her rhetorical approach, which she said requires repetition.

“The reality is that there are certain things that must be repeated to ensure that I have everyone know what I stand for and the issues that I think are at stake in this election,” Harris said. “You know, some people say that until someone has heard the same thing at least three times, it just doesn’t stay with you.”

She admitted that she uses similar speeches throughout her battleground state rallies “to make sure that people hear and receive what I think are some of the most critical issues that are at stake in this election.”

Pressed on Border Policy

Charlamagne asked Harris if the Biden administration bears some blame for the issues at the southern border, asserting: “The first three years, y’all did get a lot of things wrong with the border.”

Securing the Mexico-U.S. border remains a top issue for American voters, according to a Sept. 18 poll from Scripps News/Ipsos. When asked, 39 percent of U.S. residents and 47 percent of Arizonans said immigration is one of the country’s most important issues.

Harris said the administration’s first act after inauguration was to propose a bill to “fix the broken immigration system.” The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 would have created new citizenship pathways for immigrants.

“The legislation modernizes our immigration system and prioritizes keeping families together, growing our economy, responsibly managing the border with smart investments, addressing the root causes of migration from Central America, and ensuring that the United States remains a refuge for those fleeing persecution,” the bill’s fact-sheet reads.

It would have also provided funding for the Department of Homeland Security to deploy technology to screen for narcotics and “other contraband” at all land, air, and sea ports of entry. The bill stalled after being referred to the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship.

There have been more than 8 million encounters along the southwest border alone since January 2021, although the number has dropped since Biden tightened asylum restrictions on Sept. 30.

Harris then pivoted to touting border policies implemented in 2024, years after illegal border crossings began to surge.

“We then tightened up the asylum application process. We then worked with what we needed to do to secure ports of entry. We did a number of things,” she said, while reiterating her support for the failed bipartisan border bill and her position that it is Congress’s job to fix the immigration system.