Kamala Harris promised Thursday to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet if she’s elected president.
“I think it’s important to have people at the table when some of the most important decisions are being made that have different views, different experiences,” Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash in a pre-released clip of the Democratic presidential nominee’s first extensive interview. “And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my Cabinet who was a Republican.”
Harris floated no names of potential candidates to serve as her token Republican. But her comment represents an olive branch to “Never Trumper” Republicans and independents at a time when the country is bitterly divided and the race between Harris and Donald Trump is a statistical dead heat.
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A number of Republicans have endorsed the Democratic candidate for president, including well over 200 former aides and officials who served former President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah. Among them is Larry Ellis, a retired four-star general.
Several Republicans were hailed prominently at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week, including former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
“I’ve got 68 days to go with this election, so I’m not putting the cart before the horse,” Harris told CNN in a snippet of the interview released Thursday afternoon, choosing not to speculate on names. “But I would. I think it’s really important. I have spent my career inviting diversity of opinion.”
There is precedent for a Democrat naming a Republican to a presidential Cabinet.
Barack Obama chose three Republicans to serve in his Cabinet: former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) as Commerce secretary; former Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) as secretary of Transportation and Robert Gates, who Obama kept on as Defense secretary. (Gates later harshly criticized Obama’s foreign policy handling.)
The CNN interview with Harris and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was taped Thursday afternoon at a cafe in Savannah, Georgia, and will air in its entirety Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.
The long-anticipated media availability is being closely scrutinized by the media and the political world. Harris has come under fire for avoiding traditional media outlets, choosing instead to court social media influencers.
The Harris campaign late Wednesday defended the presidential nominee’s decision to bring Walz to the interview, insisting, “For at least 20 years, every ticket, Republican and Democrat, sat for a joint interview.”
