特朗普过渡团队的前沟通主任布莱恩·兰扎(Bryan Lanza)和前参议员海蒂·海特坎普(Heidi Heitkamp)在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时谈到了他们对副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯和她的总统竞选的看法。
兰扎说，哈里斯不必为她在过去4到6年里做出的各种政策变化负责，他说这让她的答案模棱两可，同时让她的解决方案似乎适合所有人。他还表示，哈里斯从他所谓的媒体宣传中受益匪浅，民主党人已经松了一口气，不再是乔·拜登了。
海特坎普不同意兰扎的观点，并反驳说，当哈里斯谈到日托、带薪探亲假、负担得起的教育和负担得起的住房时，他们都是她自己的想法。这位前北达科他州参议员还指责共和党在谈论哈里斯竞选活动取消纳税人资助的初选时发牢骚。
视频:DNC中心的移民问题
海特坎普和兰扎在民主党全国代表大会第一天辩论。
美国广播公司新闻:现在加入我们的是前参议员兼美国广播公司新闻撰稿人海蒂·海特坎普和前特朗普通讯顾问布莱恩·兰扎。非常感谢你们两位加入我们。
从你开始吧，海蒂。我们谈论的是势头，真的，卡玛拉·哈里斯已经进入大会。你觉得她有什么坚实的基础?你觉得她还有什么工作要做?
海特坎普:嗯，她将有很多工作要做，因为你不能仅仅依靠这种变化，嘿，我不会说血糖高，但你有这种势头。我想你已经看到它有些停滞了。
所以她必须出来。她必须激励年轻人，我认为她可以做到，因为年轻人已经相当气馁。他们看着乔·拜登(Joe Biden)和特朗普总统(President Trump)之间的一张票，然后说，‘你知道，他们看起来不像我。他们不知道我的问题，”他们看到了她，他们真的看到了我认为他们有兴趣了解更多的人。如果她能激励年轻人，郊区的女性，我认为她正在走向胜利。但那不是必然的。
ABC新闻:布莱恩，同样的问题。当谈到说服那些妮基·黑利的支持者或无党派人士时，你认为什么在起作用，你认为她在哪里还有工作要做?
兰扎:嗯，谢谢你邀请我。而且，你知道，很明显它没有回答任何问题。她不必回答她在过去4到6年中所做的各种政策改变，也不必给出一个让她模棱两可的答案，让她的解决方案适用于所有人。但是你可以看到周五她推出了她的一些经济政策，她谈到了价格控制。
你知道，这引起了一些非常自由的报纸的批评，甚至引起了南希·佩洛西的批评，她说她希望卡玛拉·哈里斯从中间统治。
所以我认为她从媒体对卡玛拉·哈里斯的宣传中受益匪浅。民主党人松了一口气，不再是乔·拜登参选了。但是和所有的高糖一样，它们都崩溃了。我们现在开始看到崩溃，因为她越来越多地谈论政策，她无法为自己辩护，因为她是这届政府的一部分，在创纪录的通货膨胀、创纪录的非法移民、两场战争以及可能的第三场战争中袖手旁观。
我是说，世界在燃烧，而且是在他们的监视下。
ABC新闻:海蒂，我只想把他的回答告诉你。听到他在那里。他说糖高第一，然后，然后你崩溃了。
海特坎普:是的，我不相信。我认为，当你看到她迄今为止所取得的成就时，我认为他们认为这种势头会很早就消失。但它没有。我认为，你知道，我只是对她一直在谈论美国人民所关心的问题这一想法提出异议。
当她谈论日托，当她谈论带薪探亲假，她谈论的是让教育负担得起，住房负担得起。这些都是她的想法，你知道，她已经进行了民意测验，它们是真实的。他们有人根本不谈论这个。
ABC新闻:布莱恩，共和党人一直对拜登将火炬传递给哈里斯持批评态度。对于那些认为拜登总统是被自己党内成员赶下台的选民来说，你认为这将会如何?
兰扎:显然他是，从我的角度来看，我喜欢初选不必再存在于总统层面的事实。我发现这是一个相当烦人的政治操作，难以预测，而且是对资源的巨大浪费。
所以我认为民主党人打破了封印，取消了1400万张选票，你取消了纳税人资助的初选。我认为这开创了一个先例，将会有更少的初选，而不是更多。所以我认为他们，你知道，传递火炬之类的事情。你知道，他们在这一点上是成功的，不需要向1400万人讲话，他们投票给了发起选举的数百万美元的纳税人，并出来打1800个电话来获得提名。
但我认为，他们关于民主威胁的争论就此结束了。所以这让他们失去了一个非常有价值的话题，但他们最终还是来了，你知道，对她很好。她团结了她的政党。但我的意思是，这并不是因为1400万人投票。他们取消了1400万人的投票让她来到这里。
ABC新闻:海蒂，我真的有问题要问你。但更有趣的是你对布莱恩的反应，因为我看到你的反应，在他说话时摇头。
海特坎普:我希望布莱恩鼓励整个共和党只把这种转变说成是对民主的某种威胁，而不是为了呈现公众希望看到的候选人而需要发生的事情。所以他们越是抱怨，就越是抱怨。
他们现在有一个卡玛拉·哈里斯之间的竞争，他们的校长曾经说过，他比乔·拜登更容易击败。所以为什么不为此感到高兴呢?作为共和党人，他们更清楚。他们知道卡玛拉·哈里斯是伊斯兰教徒，已经在民调中大幅上升。这场对民主党来说非常糟糕的竞选，现在已经结束了。她背后有动力。所以继续抱怨。继续谈论它，因为它不会赢得任何选票。
ABC新闻:布莱恩，我给你15秒钟;最后一句话。
兰扎:你知道我不是在抱怨。你问了这个问题，但是，听着，从我们的立场来看，一旦这个问题，一旦选举回到重要的问题，通货膨胀，移民，战争，很明显，很明显特朗普总统有优势。
乔·拜登今天没有出现在选票上是有原因的，因为他没能在那些特定的问题上推销他的成功。卡玛拉推销这种成功的能力较弱。推销这一点，尤其是她那种旧金山自由主义价值观，以及她在上周五帮助推出的这些危险的自由主义政策。
Former Trump adviser, ex-senator debate merits of Harris campaign
Former director of communications for Trump's transition team, Bryan Lanza, and former Senator Heidi Heitkamp spoke with ABC News about their opinions regarding Vice President Kamala Harris and her presidential campaign.
Lanza said that Harris has not had to answer for the various policy changes she's made over the last 4 to 6 years, which he says leaves her answers ambiguous while making her solutions seem suitable for everyone. He also stated that Harris has significantly benefited from what he calls a "sugar high" of the media pumping her up and that the Democrats have just been so relieved that it's no longer Joe Biden on the ticket.
Heitkamp disagreed with Lanza and rebutted by saying that when Harris talks about day care, paid family leave, affordable education and affordable housing -- they are each her own ideas. The former North Dakota senator also accused the Republican Party of whining when they talk about the Harris campaign as being borne of canceling a taxpayer-funded primary.
VIDEO: Issue of immigration at center of DNC
Heitkamp and Lanza debated on the first day of the Democratic National Convention.
ABC NEWS: Joining us now is former senator and ABC News contributor Heidi Heitkamp and former Trump communications adviser Bryan Lanza. Thank you both so much for joining us.
Let's start with you, Heidi. We're talking about the momentum, really, Kamala Harris has going into the convention. What do you feel that she's on solid ground about? And what do you think she still has work to do on?
HEITKAMP: Well, she's going to have a lot of work to do because you can't just build on kind of this change in the hey, I wouldn't say sugar high, but the kind of momentum that you had. I think you already see it plateauing somewhat.
And so she's got to come out. She's got to energize young people, which I think she can do because young people have been pretty discouraged. They look at a ticket between Joe Biden and President Trump and they go, 'you know, they don't look like me. They don't know my problems.' They see her and they really see someone I think that they're interested in learning more about. And if she can energize young people, suburban women, I think she's on the way to victory. But that's, that's not a given.
ABC NEWS: And Bryan, same question to you. What do you think is working and where do you think that she has work to do still when it comes to convincing maybe some of those Nikki Haley supporters or independents who might still be on the fence?
LANZA: Well, thank you for having me. And, you know, clearly where it's working is not answering any questions. She doesn't have to answer the various policy changes that she's made over the last 4 to 6 years and not have an answer that sort of makes her ambiguous and makes her solution for everybody. But you saw on Friday when she rolled out, you know, some of her economic policies and she talked about, you know, price controls.
You know, that sort of drew some criticism from some very liberal newspapers and even drew some criticism from Nancy Pelosi, who said she'd like Kamala Harris to govern from the center.
So I think she's benefited a lot from, I'll call it, a sugar high of the media sort of pumping up Kamala Harris. And the Democrats just been so relieved that it's not Joe Biden on the ticket anymore. But as with all sugar highs, they all crash. And we're starting to see the crash now as she talks more and more about policy, which she can't defend because she's been a part of this administration that has been, has stood by during record inflation, record illegal immigration, two wars and possibly a third.
I mean, the world is on fire and it was under their watch.
ABC NEWS: Heidi, I just want to put his response right to you. Heard him there. He says sugar high comes first and then, and then you crash.
HEITKAMP: Yeah, I don't believe that. I think that when you look at what she's been able to accomplish so far, I think they thought the steam was going to go out of this momentum a lot earlier. And it hasn't. And I think, you know, I'm going to just take issue with this idea that she's been speaking to concerns of the American people.
When she's talking about day care, when she's talking about paid family leave, she's talking about making education affordable, housing affordable. Those are all ideas that she has, you know, she has poll tested -- they are true. And they have someone who isn't talking about this at all.
ABC NEWS: And Bryan, Republicans have been very critical of this passing of the torch from Biden to Harris. How do you think that this will play out for voters who think that President Biden was forced out by members of his own party?
LANZA: Clearly he was, and from my perspective, I love the fact that the primaries don't have to exist at the presidential level anymore. It's a political operative I've found rather annoying, hard to predict, and a tremendous waste of resources.
So I think with the Democrats breaking the seal and canceling out 14 million votes, you're canceling a taxpayer-funded primary. I think that sets a precedent for less primaries going forward, not more. And so I think they, you know, passing the torch sort of thing. They've been successful at it, you know, not having to address the 14 million people who voted millions of dollars of taxpayers that instituted the election and come out to 1,800 phone calls to get it, to get the nomination.
But I think that the, the sort of the end of their argument about threat to democracy. So it cost them a very valuable talking point that they had, but they ultimately got here and, you know, good for her. She unified her party. But by that, I mean, it wasn't because 14 million people voted. They vacated 14 million people's votes to get her here.
ABC NEWS: Heidi, I really do have questions for you. But it's more interesting to get your reaction to Bryan because I see you reacting, shaking your head as he's talking.
HEITKAMP: I hope Bryan encourages the entire Republican Party to only talk about this switcheroo as some kind of threat to democracy, as opposed to something that needed to happen in order to present the candidate that the public wanted to see. And so the more they complain about this, it's just whining.
They now have a race between Kamala Harris, who their principal at once upon a time said would be easier to defeat than Joe Biden. So why not be happy about it? As Republicans, they know better. They know that Kamala Harris is is, has already surged in the polls. This race, which was in a very dire condition for the Democratic Party, now is dead even. And she has momentum behind her. And so keep complaining. Keep talking about it because it's not going to win any votes.
ABC NEWS: Bryan, I'll give you 15 seconds; Final word here.
LANZA: You know I'm not complaining. You asked the question, but, listen, from our standpoint, once this question, once the election gets back to the issues that matter, inflation, immigration, the wars, it's clearly, it's clear that President Trump has the advantage.
There's a reason Joe Biden is not on the ballot today because he wasn't able to sell success on those particular issues. And Kamala has less ability to sell that success. Sell that, especially with her sort of liberal San Francisco values and these dangerous liberal policies that she helped introduce on Friday.
