Kamala Harris accused of giving up after widely criticised CNN interview

Kamala Harris has been accused of being "incompetent" in her response when questioned on what action will now be taken by the Democrat administration to protect abortion rights.

In her first interview since Roe v. Wadewas overturned by the Supreme Court, the vice president sat with CNN's Dana Bash to discuss this matter, but when asked what the Democrats will do to ensure there are legal abortion rights, Harris's response wasn't exactly the fighting talk many were hoping for.

"You're saying now the president said this fall Roe is on the ballot," Bash said referring to the important upcoming midterm elections this November.

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She then put to Harris: "What do you say to Democratic voters who argue "Wait a minute, we worked really hard to elect a Democratic president and vice president, a Democratic-led House, a Democratic-led Senate. Do it now."

"Do what now?" Harris replied seemingly out of ideas. "What now? I mean, we need, we, listen, what we did, we extended the Child Tax Credit."

Dash responded: "I'm sorry, when I say 'Do it now,' yeah, act legislatively to make abortion rights legal."

The VP said: "We feel the same way. Do it now.

"Congress needs to do it now in terms of permanently putting in place a clear indication that it is the law of the land that women have the ability and the right to make decisions about their reproductive care and the government does not have the right to make those decisions for a woman."

Harris added the administration will do "everything within its power" to protect abortion rights but said right now "the votes aren't there" in the Senate to remove the filibuster in order to pass federal legislation for abortion rights and highlighted the importance of the midterm elections for voters to elect more Democrat senators.

However, Harris's initial reaction to Bash's line of questioning has been criticised on Twitter, with many mentioning the different actions that the Democrats could take to ensure abortion rights are protected.

A request from fellow Democratic lawmakers to use federal lands for abortion services in states that plan to ban the procedure, was also put were also put to the vice president but she said: "It's not right now what we [the administration] are discussing."

Elsewhere, in the interview, Harris said believes "this is not over" as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas indicated the court is going to roll back on other landmark cases such as same-sex marriage and access to contraceptives.

"I definitely believe this is not over. I do. I think he just said the quiet part out loud, and I think that is why we all must really understand the significance of what just happened," she said.

"This is profound. And the way that this decision has come down has been so driven, I think, by the politics of the issue versus what should be the values that we place on freedom and liberty in our country," Harris added.

Watch the full interview with Dana Bash and vice president Kamala Harris on CNN's YouTube.

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