U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris is said to have her eyes on the U.S. presidency over the long term–but is declining to endorse Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee who has a chance to be elected the first female president in 2016. In a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Carla Marinucci, Harris said she is “very excited that we might have a woman as president of the United States,” but put the hard breaks on endorsing the former First Lady.
“I’m not breaking news right now,” Harris reportedly said, adding that she believes “Clinton is extremely qualified and is probably one of the smartest and most dedicated public servants we have.” In contrast, Harris did not delay in 2008 when she endorsed Barack Obama during his first presidential bid.
Harris’s sister Maya was named as one of three lead policy advisers for the Clinton presidential campaign this week.
Since announcing her candidacy for Senate, Harris has received a slew of major endorsements and over $2.5 million in campaign contributions.
And while she remained mum on supporting Hillary for president, she was quite vocal on her views on other top issues in her interview with the Chronicle.
Harris said she “supports” Obama’s approach with regard to the Iran nuclear deal; declared that she agreed with Obama’s support for military force against the Islamic State (ISIS), but is not in favor of having U.S. boots on the ground there; and spoke with “particular passion” on the topic of immigration, taking swipes at Republicans for wanting to “secure the border.”
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