Kamala Harris Tells Oprah an Intruder Is 'Getting Shot' If 'Somebody Tries Breaking in My House'
“I probably should not have said that. But my staff will deal with that later,” Harris said during the "Unite for America" forum hosted by Winfrey
Vice President Kamala Harris is making her stance on the Second Amendment clear.
While sitting down for a virtual forum with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday, Sept. 19, Harris quipped, “If somebody breaks into my house they’re getting shot.” Catching herself, she added, “I probably should not have said that. But my staff will deal with that later,” eliciting laughter from the audience.
Harris' comments came amid a discussion about gun violence, after she revealed she doesn’t believe it is as black and white as people make it out to be. “I think for far too long on the issue of gun violence, some people have been pushing a really false choice to suggest you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away,” the Democratic presidential nominee told the media mogul.
Harris, 59, added, “I’m in favor of the Second Amendment and I’m in favor of assault weapons bans, universal background checks [and] red flag laws. And these are just common sense.”
Responding to the candidate's take on gun reform, Winfrey, 70, said she found it “powerful” when the vice president disclosed that she has guns during a debate with former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10.
“I’m a gun owner, Tim Walz is a gun owner,” Harris said about herself and her vice presidential nominee, to which Winfrey cut in by saying, “I did not know that!”
“Unite for America,” which was held in Farmington Hills, Mich., saw hundreds of thousands of viewers attend both in person and virtually. Among them were the likes of Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Bryan Cranston and Meryl Streep, who asked the presidential nominee questions and showed their support through their zoom screens.
“I am just so appreciative of Kamala to be able to bring back that sense of optimism and to squash the cynicism and the vitriol and the rancor that just seems to be floating all around Washington,” Cranston, 68, said through his camera.
“I want to bring my daughters to the White House to meet this Black woman president,” Rock, 59, added.
Related: 4 Killed in Georgia School Shooting Identified: 'Truly Heartbroken'
Also in attendance was Natalie Griffith, a 15-year-old girl who was shot twice in her algebra class at Apalachee High School by a classmate on Sept. 4. “The whole world needs to hear that we women, that have our children — we have a job,” Griffith's mother, Marilda, said through tears. “That job is to protect our children. That job is to protect our nation.”
Harris agreed with Marilda, recounting the sight of almost every student raising their hands when, visiting colleges across the country last year, she asked if they had participated in active-shooter drills. “It was bone-chilling,” the vice president said.
While the 90-minute-long event was meant to help the Harris campaign target more voters, Winfrey said it was just the beginning. “When we leave this moment that we’re sharing here tonight, and you do what you can in your community, it’s not enough just to join us all,” the talk show host said.
She added, “We love having you here, but the rah, rah, rah moment is going to end. And then we need to get to work. We need to get busy.”
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.