Vice President Kamala Harris finally broke her media silence, after 43 long days of being the anticipated and eventual Democratic candidate for presidency without having a single press conference. Despite the growing pressure for substance-based interviews, in lieu of vague discussions, she consented for a conversation with CNN’s Dana Bash in Georgia. She was accompanied by her running mate Tim Walz, possibly to have a backup in facing the inconvenient questions.
In the course of the interview, she was questioned about her altered stances on key issues, such as fracking and immigration. Rather than providing concrete explanations, Harris deflected the queries, claiming that her ‘values’ never wavered. It was an attempt to downplay the glaring inconsistencies and a refusal to assume responsibility for the changes she had made.
Harris was confronted about whether she felt remorse for defending President Biden’s mental acuity during his debate, given that he withdrew from the race barely a month later. Once again, she eluded the question, asserting instead her desire to ‘turn the page on the last decade’, a period which she believes was against the essence of the nation.
Despite her role as Vice President for over three years, Harris disowned the current ‘era’, hinting at the time when Donald Trump began his political journey in 2015. It was an apparently unsaid indictment of the Trump era while neglecting her own contributions to the status quo. It raises the question – why does she expect a different outcome from policies and leadership that seem eerily familiar?
Invoking her ‘values’ as an excuse for her flip-flopped policies, Harris offered no clarity on why her positions have changed so drastically over time. In fact, she refrained from committing to hold a formal press conference, raising doubts about her willingness to face critical media scrutiny.
Ever since Biden stepped down from the race and endorsed Harris, no Democrat has dared to challenge her. Hence, she was able to easily secure the nomination, all the while carefully evading any challenging interviews or opportunities for scrutiny from her party peers. One can only guess whether such avoidance will persist throughout her candidacy.
Critics commend the soft-spoken queries from various media outlets like ABC or NPR, hoping for a shift in the media landscape. Yet, the doubts persist whether any liberal journalist will act ethically and not just cater to Harris’s narrative, as Timothy Houck shared with Fox News Digital.
Interestingly, the atmosphere of the interview was projected as celebratory, rather than being a tireless pursuit of facts. From the beginning, CNN pitched it as a spectacle, diverting attention from the depth and relevance of the questions. A significant number of critical issues remained untouched in the conversation.
A list of ignored topics includes sensitive but important matters such as enabling death row inmates to vote, dismantling ICE, defunding the police, eliminating private insurance, gender-specific sports, the filibuster, Jussie Smollett, the Minneapolis bail fund, and systemic racism. The dodge leaves a lot to be desired in terms of her stance, policies, and plans to address these burning issues.
Former President Trump has been quite vocal in displaying the stark contrast in media interaction between the two. Trump has been engaged in several extensive interviews in recent times and held multiple press conferences, whereas Harris has largely relegated herself to a particular side of the media.
The one-on-one with Bash earned Harris mixed feedback. While she addressed most of the questions herself, she still had Walz alongside her for support. In contrast to the overall lack of hardline questions, Harris’s handling of one particular query demonstrated her irreverence toward opposing views.
When questioned about Trump’s insinuation that she didn’t accept her Black identity until her adulthood, Harris summarily dismissed the query, labeling it as a dated ‘playbook’ tactic. Rather than responding substantively, she instructed Bash to proceed to the next question.
Among the revelations during the interview, one stood out as particularly concerning for the conservative audience. Harris hinted at continuing ‘Bidenomics’, despite the widespread economic downturn that took place under the Biden administration. It certainly raised eyebrows and must have provided fodder for the Trump campaign.
Ending the media silence, Harris fulfilled her self-imposed deadline of doing an interview by month-end. However, whether she will be subject to more pressure to undertake more solo interviews and provide a clearer picture of her candidacy remains uncertain. Pundits raise concerns that the liberal media may use this one interview to satisfy the requirement for in-depth campaign coverage.