On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Harris-Walz Campaign Senior Adviser and Senior Spokesperson Adrienne Elrod defended 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ policy flips by stating that “when you become a public servant, when you serve the American people, you, oftentimes, learn more about the issues,” and “public servants evolve, and I think you want someone in office who’s willing to take a hard look at the issues and be open-minded when it comes to where they stand, the more they learn about an issue, and, by the way, the more that issue also evolves.” But it’s “Absolutely safe to say” that she’ll hold the positions she says she has now.
Co-host Willie Geist asked, “One of the things I’m sure you hear…is that [voters] do have concerns about where she stands now versus where she stood previously in her career, particularly in 2019, during that 2020 race. What’s the best way to explain the way that some of those positions have changed, pretty dramatically, for Vice President Harris? I know she says her values haven’t changed, but what does that mean exactly when you talk about her support, previously, for decriminalizing illegal border crossings, her support for single-payer health care and getting rid of private healthcare insurance, and her support for the banning of fracking, none of which she says she supports anymore. What’s the best way for a voter considering her right now to understand those changes?”
Elrod responded, “I’m glad you asked this question, Willie, I think she’s made it very clear, that, when you become a public servant, when you serve the American people, you, oftentimes, learn more about the issues, and when you learn more about the issues, oftentimes, your positions evolve. Her position on fracking, for example, is the same position that she had during the 2020 campaign. … People evolve on positions. I think we can look back to where a lot of elected officials stood on marriage equality, for example, in the early-2000s and mid-2000s, a lot of elected officials were against that. And, of course, it is unimaginable in the Democratic Party, in particular, these days, to not stand for marriage equality. Of course, the Vice President’s always stood for it. But, the bottom line is, people evolve, public servants evolve, and I think you want someone in office who’s willing to take a hard look at the issues and be open-minded when it comes to where they stand, the more they learn about an issue, and, by the way, the more that issue also evolves.”
Geist then asked, “And so, I guess the concern, Adrienne, is that she’s saying some of these things to get elected and she’ll go back to her previous positions if she becomes president. Is it safe to say she’s going to stand pat where she is right now?”
Elrod responded, “Absolutely safe to say that, Willie, no doubt. She made that very clear on the debate stage Tuesday night. She’s evolved on some positions, but when it comes to where she stands on the issues that matter to the American people, her values remain the same. Those have been unchanged her entire career, when she was a prosecutor, when she was attorney general of California, when she was a United States senator, and, obviously, as Vice President.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett