George Headley, the politics editor at The State Press, sat down with Maya Harris before her appearance in Tempe to mobilize voters for the Harris-Walz ticket to speak on the personal life of the vice president and what she will offer to student voters. This article features the transcript of that interview. State Press transcripts are produced by a third-party transcription service and may contain errors.
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George Headley: What would you say are the challenges you see the Harris-Waltz ticket facing coming up to election day? Because, of course, we're in the home stretch right now. What do you think are some of the challenges that the ticket will face these final few weeks?
Maya Harris: I think we're still talking to people and getting to know people and some people are still getting to know Kamala as a presidential candidate. And so one of our challenges, but I don't really consider it a challenge, I think it's an opportunity, is that there are so many people out there who are interested to know more about her, and once they have a chance to know more about her and know her track record of who she's fought for her entire life, and then have confidence in who she will fight for as president of the United States. It's a real opportunity to be able to have so many people still that we're able to talk to.
The other thing I would say is, again, not a challenge, but an opportunity: There's so much energy and momentum and excitement on the ground, being able to really harness all of that energy and have everyone be engaged to the degree that they want to be. There are so many people who really understand that the stakes of this election are so high, and who really understand that this is about two fundamentally different views of our country and for our country, and in understanding that Kamala is offering a new generation of leadership, a new way forward. She has plans that are really about lifting up every American, particularly middle-class families. We grew up in a hard-working middle-class community. She really understands what it means to grow up that way and to work hard and really try to get by, and she really wants people not just getting by, but actually getting ahead.
There's so many people who realize that the choice is an inclusive one, that's about everyone, and that is offering a new way forward, with a positive vision for the country in which everyone can see themselves or on the other side, taking us backwards. I mean literally, on fundamental freedoms, taking us backwards. I think that as people are taking in this moment and understanding the stakes of the election, they want to be involved. And so one of the things that I found everywhere I've been traveling all over the country, talking to people about my sister, and helping people get to know her values and how we were raised, and what she's always fought for, right, which is a real clear indication of what she will fight for.
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And I'm finding people everywhere who have never been involved in politics ever. They've cast their ballot, but they've never volunteered, or phone banked, or knocked on a door, or gone to a ballots and bracelets party. They've never done that, and they feel this desire to do something more, to move us in the direction of this country that will feel like we're continuing to have progress and not regression.
George Headley: Is there a childhood memory that you look back on the birth of Vice President Kamala Harris's passion for political action?
Maya Harris: I think of college as a time where I most saw her come into real political activism, but I think of her leadership qualities from as far back as I can remember — one would hope that those who engage in politics would demonstrate a kind of leadership and character that would suggest they would be able to take on that role in the interests of everyone.
And ever since we were kids, Kamala has demonstrated the leadership qualities that are about being not only fearless and courageous and visionary in some ways, but also sticking up for people, standing up to bullies. Kamala never backs down from a challenge. As long as I can remember, she's always stood up for vulnerable people. And so, for example, when she was in kindergarten, her best friend, Stacy.
She and Stacy were on the play yard in kindergarten, and another kid was picking on Stacy and Kamala stepped into the situation and stood up for Stacy. The other child actually hit her with a rock or a stick. She still has a scar on the side of her eye where that happened, but in that moment, Kamala was focused on 'how do I protect my friend?' Now, she and Stacy are still the best of friends, which I think also says something about someone's character — your best friend from kindergarten is still your dearest friend at this stage of life.
Similarly, when she was in high school, her very good friend Wanda, who was actually being molested by her stepfather. And when Wanda told Kamala what was happening, Kamala immediately said to Wanda, 'You have to come stay with us.' And then, of course, she realized she had to go home and ask my mom if that was okay for her friend to come stay with us. Of course, my mother said 'yes,' and Wanda came and stayed with us until my mom and we could figure out what was going on and what was going to be a good situation for Wanda. Going forward, she and Wanda are still friends, but that's a consistent theme.
I would say that she is someone who steps into a situation where someone needs help, or where something's wrong and needs to be right and she doesn't run away from those situations. She actually moves into those situations and tries to figure out, what is it that she can do to make it better. And that's who she's been her entire life, and it's why she went on to have a career entirely in public service. She's always been a public servant, and her goal in life has been to make other people's lives better.
She's run for different offices over time, and what I've said about is that for her, each office that she's run for at a different state has been ... to have a bigger impact. And we've understood that since we were children. Our parents raised us with great expectations for us in terms of what they thought we could be and do anything. They told us that we believed them, but they also expected of us that we would do something with that and in service of other people, so we both have lived our lives that way.
George Headley: What are the other traits or characteristics of Vice President Kamala Harris that you notice when she's not on the campaign trail, when she's in the household, when she's around family? What do you notice that most people necessarily wouldn't really expect of her?
Maya Harris: Yeah, I would say she's very fun and loving. She loves to cook for her family, to the degree that you don't have time to make this from scratch and it's 5:00 p.m., but she will. I mean, she loves to cook ... for her family, and she's a great cook ... so that's a good thing.
Ever since we were kids, we've always played games. We used to play cards and all of that. And I was going to say hopscotch, (but) we don't do that anymore. We still play cards and love a good movie with popcorn. So at home, she's got a great sense of humor, that hearty laugh. And we, as a family, enjoy being together, spending time together and we have fun together.
George Headley: Can you describe what the deeper experience is like for you as her sister to support her through this campaign?
Maya Harris: I can't imagine being anywhere else. If she is going to put herself forward in this way for this immense responsibility, there's no way that I would let her be out there alone. So I think what I would say, because people do say, 'What's it like to have your sister running for president or be like the next president of the United States?' There is an element of it, certainly, that's a little surreal, but I think for me, mostly it's exciting, it's inspiring. She's my big sister. Of course, I look up to my big sister, but I think that because I know so deeply who she is and her compassion, and her empathy and her fight. I know that so deeply.
It is exciting to me to have someone like her be president of the United States because I know what that means for other people. And we were raised with the same values and expectations, and so as someone who also has devoted a life to social justice, to improving the lives of other people and the betterment of society. I just know that when she's elected president of the United States, (it) would be extraordinary. Truly extraordinary.
George Headley: You worked with the Clinton campaign in 2016 and you worked with your sister's campaign in 2020, and now here in 2024. Is America ready for a female president?
Maya Harris: We’ve been ready. ... that's the answer. The answer is yes.
George Headley: When it comes to policy, some of the main things that students have shown interest in have been reproductive rights, border security and economic policy related to finances of higher education. I was wondering, what policies will Harris implement if elected to support this younger generation?
Maya Harris: So many things. Certainly one of the things that this administration, the Biden-Harris Administration, has been at the forefront of, has been the issues around student debt and erasing student debt for a lot of people, and I think that's important because having been someone who took out loans to go to college and law school and didn't pay off those loans until I was almost 40 — being saddled with that when you're just trying to get an education to get to the next stage of life is really significant in terms of how it limits your options, in terms of what you can do. So I think that the fact that that emphasis has been placed by them, and it's something that she would want to be able to continue is important.
And that's as well as things like Pell Grants and increasing the amounts of Pell Grants, because the fact is that education is very expensive, and higher education is very expensive, and it is still a pathway to opportunity. Even though you can have a pathway to opportunity that doesn't necessarily go through higher education, we should have pathways to opportunities that don't because not everybody wants to go to college. That's something she's also focused on, which is multiple pathways to opportunity that if you want to get an education through college, you shouldn't be so burdened by debt that you can't start your life if you don't want to go to college — you should have other opportunities.
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And one of the other ways that I see her doing that is, especially in your generation, there's so much creativity and innovation and people who actually don't want to go work for someone, they want to start their own business. They want to be their own boss. When you see her talk about small businesses and entrepreneurs, her eyes literally light up, and so she's really excited about being able to make it easier to start and grow a business. One example is taking the tax credit that's right now $5,000 to start a business, for the startup cost, and taking that to $50,000 because she recognizes that it's nice to have $5,000 but there's not a whole lot that you can do with $5,000 if you're really at the front end of trying to start a business, but other policies as well related to existing businesses and being able to grow them.
I think a lot of young people want to be their own boss, and they want to be entrepreneurs. She wants them to have the opportunity to do that, express their creativity and their ambition through that path, but also have some help to be able to get that off the ground. The reason is not only that she supports people in those aspirations and ambitions, but because small businesses are such a driver in our economy, and they create jobs and really are a kind of bedrock sector in our society — so that's something as well.
I think, honestly, the choice that we face here in terms of reproductive freedom, it could not be any more stark, and that matters to all young people because we all should have the right to decide when and where and whether to start a family and or to grow a family with it, with with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
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Now even people who want to desperately have a child through IVF are in jeopardy. I met a woman from Alabama ... (whose) name is Latorya Beasley — I met her in Flint, Michigan. We did an event together when Roe v. Wade was overturned, the Alabama Supreme Court said, 'Okay, now we're going to say that embryos can legally be recognized as children.' The IVF clinic shut down. She was in the middle of IVF treatment, so I think that's an issue. I think that's really important, and where we have to be really clear that there is one candidate, Kamala Harris, who has fought for these rights for an entire lifetime. This is not new for her, and (she) will continue to fight for it, particularly until we restore the protections of Roe v. Wade. And there's another candidate who prides himself on being singularly responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade. So on that issue, I think is another issue for young people.
We always talk about young people being the future, so the question is, are we fighting for their future? And there is only one candidate who is fighting for the future and building on the progress that we've made in this country ... — and that's Kamala. Donald Trump and JD Vance have made it crystal clear they intend to take us backwards, that they're looking out for themselves, that they're looking out for wealthy corporations and wealthy individuals, and they're not looking out for you.
If you're a young person who wants to start a family, being able to have access to capital, to have a down payment for a home. It's literally about, how do we support you in getting your life off the ground? And how do we — and this goes back to something about how we were raised. We were raised in a community where we were surrounded by caring adults who really saw our potential, and they invested in us and our potential. What I mean by that is it's not investment like money. It's time. It's nurturing. It's encouragement. It's (their investment) in our potential.
And what Kamala so clearly, personally understands is that every single individual has potential, and the question is: Do we see their God-given potential, and decide to nurture that and support them to launch them into the world? Or do we make things so difficult and hard to get ahead — unnecessarily so and I say that because it's on every dimension, whether you're talking about housing, whether you're talking about health care. The Affordable Care Act has insured millions and millions of people. It made it possible for young people to be 25 years old and stay on their parents' health plan — Donald Trump wants to get rid of that. Health care is expensive, and then people go without health care, and then they have a catastrophic situation they're not prepared for, and they either can't get the health care, or they get bankrupted. The differences could not be more clear.
George Headley: Is there a role model that you and Vice President Kamala Harris both grew up with that inspired you to be involved in law and politics?
Maya Harris: Our mother. Certainly, there are many people who, in the course of our lives and in the course of history, have inspired us, and (Kamala Harris) talked about some of the other inspirations that she's had that inspired her to go to law school. But if I had to just pick one, it would be our mother, who was fearless and courageous and defied expectations, defied the odds and who came to this country alone at 19 from India, the only country she'd ever known. She came here alone, but she found a community that embraced her here. It's how she met my father. It's how she became a civil rights activist, and she was her own kind of trailblazer, but just so fierce and focused on what's right, what's wrong, and using your time and talents to right the wrongs. And we learned that from her, not just through the lessons that she taught us, which were many, but through seeing her lived experience — so I'd say our mom.
State Press transcripts are produced by a third-party transcription service and may contain errors. This transcript was edited by George Headley, Morgan Kubasko and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at gheadle@asu.edu and @George_Headley7 on X.
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George is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is his third semester with The State Press. He has also worked at Times Media Group.
