Kamala Harris promises not to interfere with the Fed, unlike Trump

Harris was asked about Trump’s recent comments that presidents should have a say in interest rates and monetary policy — a move that would overturn the Fed’s longstanding practice of independence from policymakers.

Harris said he couldn’t “agree more strongly” with that position.

“The Fed is an independent entity, and as chairman I would never interfere in the decisions that the Fed makes,” she told reporters Saturday in Phoenix at the end of a campaign stop in the swing state of Arizona.

Trump has long expressed frustration that the executive branch does not have more influence over interest rates. At a press conference on Thursday, he criticized Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, saying the central bank chief was “a little too early and a little too late” in adjusting interest rates.

The former president said he “made a lot of money,” was “very successful” and believed he had “a better instinct than, in many cases, people who would be at the Federal Reserve or the president.”

Powell pledged not to let political pressure influence decision-making at the central bank. For decades, US presidents have traditionally avoided publicly criticizing the Fed on interest rates.

Harris, the Democratic candidate, also said he plans to release his political platform next week, with a focus on the economy and keeping costs down.

Voter frustration with President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy is a major political liability for Harris’ campaign as high prices have hurt American households and overshadowed the administration’s efforts to highlight policies aimed at supporting domestic manufacturing and infrastructure spending.

Harris held a rally on Friday in Arizona, one of the battleground states that will decide November’s election, before heading to an event in Las Vegas on Saturday – part of a campaign switch with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate , designed to take advantage of new momentum for her White House bid.

Polls show Harris has erased Trump’s poll lead he held for much of the summer, with candidates off in a three-month sprint to Election Day.