After weeks of avoiding interviews and press conferences like the plague, Kamala Harris will finally sit for an interview. That such a thing is even newsworthy says a lot about Kamala’s pathetic campaign, but I’m sure you know there’s more to this story. There is a huge catch.
Naturally, you assumed that the interview would take place on a left-leaning network. Of course, you were right. CNN gets the honor of holding the first interview, and chief political correspondent and anchor Dana Bash will be the one to conduct it. Because of course.
But that’s not the catch.
Despite all the criticism Harris has received, even from her allies in the media, for not doing any sit-down interviews or press conferences, her first interview won’t be solo. Believe it or not, her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), will be her babysitter for the interview.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will sit with CNN for their first joint interview on Thursday as Democrats work to broaden their base’s excitement from last week’s Democratic National Convention.
The interview, conducted by CNN’s chief political correspondent and anchor Dana Bash, will air at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday. It occurs as the candidates embark on a bus tour through the battleground state of Georgia and marks the first time Harris has sat with a journalist for an in-depth, on-the-record conversation since President Joe Biden dropped his bid for a second term and endorsed her on July 21.
The 37 days since her candidacy began have generated a swell of enthusiasm and momentum for Harris, including at last week’s convention in Chicago. But her lack of a formal news conference or interview has generated criticism from her Republican rivals. Thursday’s interview fulfils a vow she made earlier in August to schedule a sit-down before the end of the month.
According to CNN, Harris’s campaign “is anticipating more scrutiny as she and Walz enter the final weeks before early voting begins,” hence the interview with a friendly network with a friendly anchor conducting the interview.
Will this interview satisfy her critics from the right and the left? The left, probably. The right? Not a chance.
Both Donald Trump and JD Vance have been widely available to the media for interviews even from unfriendly networks and anchors and have been calling Kamala out for hiding from unscripted moments.
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“I think it’s really disgraceful, both for Kamala Harris but also for a lot of the American media that participates in this stuff, to have a person who has been the presumptive nominee of the Democrat Party for 17 days and refuses to take a single question from the American media,” Vance said earlier this month.
Even CNN’s report threw some shade at Kamala for ditching the press.
The interview will present Harris with the first chance to elucidate her position on various domestic and foreign issues during a campaign that has so far been heavy on vibes but light on concrete policy. She will also have a chance – if she chooses – to explain how her positions might differ from Biden.
The interview comes two weeks before she is set to debate Donald Trump — if she shows up.
