Vice President Kamala Harris gave her first solo interview on Wednesday, sitting down with friendly MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle for a 25-minute conversation about her policy positions ahead of the 2024 presidential election — but it missed the mark by such a wide margin that even The New York Times panned her performance.
The article was benignly titled “3 Takeaways From Kamala Harris’s Interview on MSNBC,” but the sub-headline cut straight to the quick: “In her first one-on-one cable TV interview since becoming the nominee, the vice president repeatedly dodged direct questions and stuck firmly on message.”
The three main takeaways from the interview — which was granted to Ruhle just days after the MSNBC anchor argued in defense of Harris not taking any difficult policy questions — were laid out by reporter Reid Epstein.
First, he said, “Harris had roundabout answers to open-ended questions.”
Epstein then mentioned a question Harris had been asked on the economy — specifically why it was that voters continued to tell pollsters that they trusted former President Donald Trump more than they trusted her when it came to handling economic policy.
Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!
Harris gave no answer to the direct question about why Trump was resonating more with voters, and instead claimed that he was responsible for lost manufacturing jobs among other things.
Epstein’s second takeaway was Harris’ apparent unwillingness to consider the possibility that even in the event that she won the presidency, Democrats could lose control of the U.S. Senate.
Harris ignored a direct question from Ruhle on that, too, and continued to tout policies that would certainly flounder in a Republican-controlled Senate.
“But we’re going to have to raise corporate taxes. We’re going to have to make sure that the biggest corporations and billionaires pay their fair share. That’s just it. It’s about paying their fair share. I am not mad at anyone for achieving success, but everyone should pay their fair share,” she said.
The final takeaway was as much a criticism of Ruhle and MSNBC as it was of Harris: “A hard-hitting Harris interview is still yet to come.”
Epstein noted that while Harris had been more open to doing interviews in the last week or so — after weeks of simply hiding from the press — she still appeared unwilling to take any questions from anyone who might actually demand a substantive answer.
“Her media strategy has been to sit with friendly inquisitors who are not inclined to ask terribly thorny questions or press her when her responses are evasive,” he wrote, adding, “It’s not quite clear what Ms. Harris gained, aside from giving her campaign aides the ability to say she held a one-on-one cable television interview.”
Ruhle herself admitted that Harris had not really given straight answers to her questions — although she did not offer any apology for her failure to press the vice president with any follow-up questions.
YIKES.
Stephanie Ruhle on her softball interview with Kamala: "she doesn't answer the question." pic.twitter.com/aPPkPGh4IV
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 25, 2024