Vice President Kamala Harris sits down with Oprah Winfrey in emotional but policy-light interview

Vice President Kamala Harris has opened up about her journey to become the Democratic presidential nominee in an emotional but policy-light interview with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.

Speaking with Winfrey in an exclusive sit-down interview, aired on Thursday, local time, Ms Harris described the sense of responsibility she felt when President Joe Biden announced she would not seek re-election.

She described the race to the White House as being about America — not herself.

“I felt a sense of responsibility,” Ms Harris said. “With that comes a sense of purpose.

“We are here because there really is so much at stake.”

“There’s so much about this campaign I love because it’s about the people. This movement is about reminding each other that there is so much more we have in common.

“I don’t ask people if they are a Democrat or a Republican, I ask if they are okay.

“I do know that I am in a position to do something about it. I felt a great sense of responsibility.”

Kamala Harris on reproductive rights

The interview took an emotional turn when the pair discussed reproductive rights.

During Donald Trump’s presidency, the Republican successfully oversaw Roe vs Wade being overturned, allowing individual states to make their own decision on abortion rights.

The move led many states to ban abortions and make it illegal for doctors to provide medical treatment.

Winfrey introduced American Hadley Duvall, who delivered an emotional speech to the Democratic Nation Convention in August in which she revealed that she was a survivor of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather. She told the convention that at just 12 years old, she took her first pregnancy test, which returned a positive result.

Winfrey asked Ms Duvall why she was reliving her trauma and choosing to discuss it now before the election. Ms Duvall said she realised “My abuse was over but my story was not”.

“You can’t wait until it is too late,” she said.

“When it affects you it hits you.

“There are more people like me out there.

Ms Duvall thanked the Vice President for “hearing us (survivors)“.

Ms Harris and Winfrey also discussed Amber Thurman, a Georgia woman who died two years ago due to delays in treatment as doctors struggled with restrictive abortion bans.

In August 2022, Ms Thurman died after she experienced a rare complication from an abortion pill. The 28-year-old started vomiting blood as fetal tissue had not properly left her uterus.

The 28-year-old later died in emergency surgery to remove the tissue — which was illegal with few medical exceptions under Georgia law.

On Monday, Georgia’s maternal mortality review committee concluded that there was a “good chance” Ms Thurman’s death was “preventable”

Ms Thurman’s mother spoke from the audience saying: “At first, I didn’t want the public to know my pain.”

“You are looking at a mother that’s broken,” she said, fighting back tears.

“Amber was not a statistic. She was loved by a strong family.

“This [her death] could have been prevented.”

“I’m just so sorry,” Ms Harris said.

“Preventable. The word that keeps coming to mind is preventable.”

Expressing her outrage at the abortion bans, Ms Harris asked whether women “have to be on death’s door before you get help”.

US school shootings

Winfrey and Ms Harris discussed the recent school shooting in Georgia, where a 14-year-old student killed four people.

A mother of a student who was shot but luckily survived, described her trauma, learning there was an active shooter at the school while she was at work.

“No one knows how it feels when you can’t find your child,” a mother said.

Ms Harris, a gun owner, told Americans she supported the Second Amendment and did not want to take all guns away from Americans. Instead, she said she wants to ban assault riffles and wants flags and better checks for general gun owners.

Megastar endorsements

Julia Roberts, Meryl Steep and Tracee Ellis Ross joined the event to throw their support behind Ms Harris.

Roberts revealed she was so proud the first election that her children could vote in would be this November.

“This has become such a global representation of our country and what we stand for,” the Pretty Woman star said.

“I want people to say ‘Oh you’re American’ (were a positive inflection), instead of ‘Oh, how’s it going over there’.”

Meryl Streep described hearing from survivors and parents in the interview as “overwhelming”.

“Hello President Harris,” Streep said.

“47 days,” Ms Harris joked back.

“What happens when you win and he doesn’t accept it,” the Oscar-winner asked the vice president.

Ms Harris said: “More Americans who voted for Trump before have decided January 6 was just a bridge too far.”

“We will be ready.”

Kamala Harris still nervous in interviews

More than 210,000 people were watching on the Harris campaign livestream on YouTube alone before Winfrey introduced the vice president — the event was also being streamed on other major social media platforms.

The interview included many repetitions from Ms Harris, including policies and previously told stories about her past.

At one point, Winfrey appeared to cut Ms Harris off in an attempt to stop her from telling a story about a friend she went to school with being sexually abused.

Ms Harris has not made herself widely available for media since Mr Biden announced he would not seek re-election.

Although the Oprah set appeared to be a very safe space full of Democrats and supporters, Harris still appeared nervous at times and critics will continue to point to a lack of detail on her policies.