NBC News NOW anchor and senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson asked Vice President Kamala Harris straight-up if she believes “the country is ready now for a woman and a woman of color to be president?”

While Harris hasn’t stressed her historic candidacy the way former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did, race and gender have been a strong current in this race. Trump has relentlessly attacked Harris over her race and gender, and polls have shown significant gender gaps between the two candidates.

Harris sat for a one-on-one interview with Jackson on Tuesday night’s edition of NBC Nightly News, during which Jackson asked the VP about not “leaning in” on her historic firsts — and if the country is ready for them:

JACKSON: Let me ask you about something that you said when you were running for president the last time around, back in 2019. At the time, you said that the elephant in the room was whether the country was ready for a woman and a woman of color to be president. So, let me ask you, as you sit here today, do you think the country is ready now for a woman and a woman of color to be president?

HARRIS: Absolutely, absolutely. And I am seeing that in terms of every walk of life of our country. You know I think part of what is important in this election is really not only turning the page, but closing the page and the chapter on an era that suggests that Americans are divided.

What I know from personal experience, from lived experience, and from my travels, even most recently, the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. And what the American people want in their president is a president for all Americans, which is the type and kind of president I pledge to be.

This is my life’s work. As you know, I started as a prosecutor, I never asked a victim of crime, a witness to crime, are you a Republican or Democrat. The only thing I ever asked them is, are you OK? And that’s what the American people want to know, regardless of their race, regardless of their gender, or their age. They want to know that they have a president who sees them and understands their needs and focuses on their needs, understanding we all deserve to have a president who is focused on solutions and not just fanning the flames of division and hate.

JACKSON: You’ve been reluctant to lean into, to talk about the historic nature of your candidacy on the campaign trail. Why is that?

HARRIS: Well, I’m clearly a woman, [laughs] I don’t need to point that out to anyone. The point that most people really care about is, can you do the job, and do you have a plan to actually focus on them?

JACKSON: I hear you on that.

HARRIS: That is, that is why I spend the majority of my time listening and then addressing the concerns, the challenges, the dreams, the ambitions, and aspirations of the American people. They deserve to have a president who’s focused on them, as opposed to a Donald Trump who’s constantly focused on himself.

I think that’s part of why people are exhausted with Donald Trump and his approach, because it’s all about himself and his personal grievances, and not about the American people, not about how are you going to help families, how are you going to help small businesses, how are you going to strengthen our economy?

These are the things I’m focused on. I’m focused on investing in the new industries, on which America should lead and be a global leader.

JACKSON: I ask because to implement the agenda that you want to implement, you have to win first. You have to win the White House.

HARRIS: Of course. Of course.

JACKSON: And right now, there is a big gender gap in this race. Fewer men support you right now than they did President Biden. Some of your allies have suggested there’s sexism at play. I wonder, do you think there is sexism at play here?

HARRIS: Let me just tell you something, you’ve come to my events, and you will see there are men and women at those events, whether it be small events or events with 10,000 people. So, the experience that I am having is one in which it is clear that regardless of someone’s gender, they want to know that their president has a plan to lower costs, that their president has a plan to secure America in the context of our position around the world.

They want a president of the United States who honors our military, who understands the importance of America’s leadership around international rules and norms, and that is regardless of gender.

JACKSON: So, is that a no?

HARRIS: And that’s how I will lead.

JACKSON: Do you not see sexism as a factor in this race at all?

HARRIS: I don’t think of it that way. My challenge is the challenge of making sure I can talk with and listen to as many voters as possible and earn their vote. And I will never assume that anyone in our country should elect a leader based on their gender or their race, instead that that leader needs to earn the vote based on substance and what they will do to address challenges, and to inspire people to know that their aspirations and their ambitions can and will be achieved through the opportunity to do that.

Watch above via NBC Nightly News.

The post NBC’s Hallie Jackson Straight-Up Asks Kamala Harris ‘Is The Country Ready For Woman Of Color To Be President?’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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