Harris addresses sexism, abortion, pardoning Trump in NBC interview

Vice President Harris on Tuesday addressed sexism in the 2024 election, along with a host of other topics including the potential to pardon former President Trump and whether she would accept any concessions on abortion access.

NBC’s Hallie Jackson pressed Harris on her reluctance to boast about the historic nature of her candidacy as the first potential Black, South Asian and female president.

“Well, I’m clearly a woman, I don’t need to point that out to anyone,” Harris said. “The point that most people really care about is can you do the job, and do you have a plan to actually focus on them.”

When asked if the country is ready for a woman and a woman of color to be president, Harris replied, “Absolutely. And I am seeing that in terms of every walk of life of our country.”

The vice president also dismissed concerns that sexism is at play in the race. An Associated Press/NORC Research Center poll in September showed 38 percent of voters think being a woman hurts Harris’s chances of winning, and only 13 percent of voters think Trump’s gender will hurt his chances.

Harris argued Americans will support a candidate regardless of whether they are a man or a woman when pressed on the gender gap in the race.

“You come to my events and you will see, there are men and there are women at these events, whether it be small events or events with 10,000 people,” Harris told Jackson. “The experience that I am having is one in which it is clear that regardless of someone’s gender, they want to know that their president has a plan to lower costs, that their president has a plan to secure America in the context of our position around the world.”

When Jackson asked if sexism is a factor at all, Harris replied, “I don’t think of it that way.”

“My challenge is the challenge of making sure I can talk with and listen to as many voters as possible and earn their vote, and I will never assume that anyone in our country should elect a leader based on their gender or their race,” she said. “Instead that leader needs to earn the vote based on substance.” 

Jackson also asked Harris about pardoning Trump if she takes the White House, after the former president faced a host of legal issues including two federal cases involving classified documents and his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

Harris ultimately dodged the question.

“I’m not going to get into those hypotheticals. I’m focused on the next 14 days,” Harris said, referring to the time between now and Election Day.

Jackson asked again, offering the notion that some Americans think a Trump pardon could unite the country and help it move on.

“Let me tell you what’s going to help us move on. I get elected president of the United States,” Harris responded sternly.

Jackson also pressed Harris on what, if any, concessions the vice president was willing to make on the matter of abortion access should both chambers of Congress be controlled by Republicans.

Harris again said she would not address hypotheticals and insisted that no concessions would be on the table.

“I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” Harris said.

“I’m not gonna engage in hypotheticals because we could go on a variety of scenarios,” Harris added.

Harris also fielded questions about Trump declaring victory prematurely again — as he did in 2020 — before all votes are counted. In 2024, Trump has only committed to accepting the election results if he deems them “free and fair.”

The vice president noted that there are teams in place in the event that Trump challenges the result.

“Of course. This is a person, Donald Trump, who tried to undo ... a free and fair election, who still denies the will of the people,” Harris said. “The American people at this point, two weeks out, are being presented with a very, very serious decision about what will be the future of our country.”

The vice president sat for her interview with NBC in Washington, D.C., two weeks out from Election Day. Trump is predicted to have a 52 percent chance of winning the election, according to Decision Desk HQ/The Hill’s forecasting model, and aggregate national polling shows Harris leading at 48.6 percent and Trump at 47.7 percent.