Vice President Kamala Harris’ supporters want her to keep in line with President Biden on some policy points but not others, several of them said Thursday.
Fox News Digital spoke with Democrats who turned out at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland for Biden and Harris’ first joint appearance since she became the party’s presidential nominee.
Their speech came hours after an Axios report said Harris wants to create ‘distance’ between her own campaign and Biden on the economy, which he had struggled with in terms of approval ratings for much of his term.
‘I would say there are some things that, you know, that were going well, and there are some things that are needing to change,’ said Harris supporter Brian Galbraith.
However, he pointed out that the poor economic and inflationary outlook that plagued the first half of Biden’s term was a global phenomenon after the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than something directly caused by his policies.
‘While we have been impacted significantly by the recent inflation, we need to take a look around and realize that everywhere has been. So, no matter who, Democrat or Republican, I think we still would have been facing these issues,’ he said.
Another voter named Constance suggested she was happy with Biden’s economic policy but wanted to see Harris lean more into voter access issues.
‘I want to see her try to follow some of his, but I also want to see her come into her own, like kind of a combination,’ Constance said. ‘I want to continue to see the economy do well. I want [Harris] to really focus on voting rights and human rights.’
Other Harris supporters suggested there were issues outside the economy they wanted to see the vice president diverge on.
‘There are things that I would like to see her change,’ another woman said. ‘I would like her to make it easier for immigrants to enter the country legally. I think there are a lot of poverty reduction programs that we need to have in place.’
A speech attendee who identified herself as Arvia Ross told Fox News Digital, ‘I’d like to see her [distance herself]. … I would like to see her have a mind of her own on certain things.’
Harris supporters Johnny and Nicolas also wanted Harris to mix her own ideas in with the line Democrats have been toeing.
‘I think it should be a combination of both,’ Johnny said. ‘I think she can bring her own ideas to the table.’
The latter told Fox News Digital, ‘She’s free to include her own policies … not following the line of leadership and whatnot. But I know for the party and as a Democrat, a Democrat has certain policies that need to be focused on, so it should be a mix of the two.’
Harris and Biden appeared together Thursday to roll out the administration’s strategy for Medicare drug price cuts.
Biden was met with chants of ‘Thank you, Joe’ when he and Harris took the stage.
Earlier, Biden told Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy Harris is ‘not going to’ distance herself from his economic policies when asked whether it bothers him that she would do so.