The announcement that Vice President Kamala Harris’s first formal sit-down interview as a 2024 presidential candidate would be done with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, by her side, didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Instead, it unleashed a wave of mockery across the internet.
CNN disclosed on Tuesday that Dana Bash would be conducting a joint interview with Harris and Walz while they campaign in Georgia, with the segment set to air later that night. This will be Harris’s first formal interview with the press since President Biden stepped aside 38 days ago, making her the Democratic nominee.
But here’s the kicker: the fact that Harris’s first big interview will be alongside Walz—and with a CNN host who’s known for being anything but tough on Democrats—struck many as a tacit admission that the vice president, famous for her word salads, simply isn’t up for the challenge of facing the media solo. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s communications director, Abigail Jackson, didn’t mince words: “Kamala needs to do a live, unedited, solo press conference. She wants to be commander-in-chief, and she’s too scared to do an interview without Tim Walz by her side? Girl power, amirite.”
The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis chimed in with his own jab: “Joe Biden can’t get into a car or up a flight of stairs without a handler, and apparently Kamala Harris can’t even talk to a CNN reporter by herself. Embarrassing.” Mediaite writer Caleb Howe sarcastically predicted the softball nature of the interview, imagining questions like, “WHAT WOULD YOU SAY HAS MUTUALLY ENCHANTED YOU BOTH ABOUT BEING THE NOMINEES?”
National Review’s Jeff Behar summed up the sentiment with a snarky quip: “LOL, a joint interview. She simply cannot be left unattended.” He went on to humorously note that “Tim Walz is apparently Kamala Harris’s ‘emotional support Midwesterner.’” Others questioned when, if ever, we might see Harris take on an interview by herself. “When is the first interview with just Kamala? Never?” asked American Commitment President Phil Kerpen.
Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich couldn’t help but point out the irony: “The woman who wants to be the first female president of the United States can’t do an interview on her own? Why does he need to be there?” The Spectator’s Stephen Miller echoed the sentiment, while conservative commentator Steve Guest demanded that the entire interview be released unedited, likely suspecting it would be more fluff than substance.
MRC Free Speech America vice president Dan Schneider was equally dismissive, telling Fox News Digital that Harris would never have “a real interview with a real journalist” on pressing policy issues. “Kamala Harris is still avoiding the press,” Schneider noted, criticizing the choice of Bash as the interviewer. He added that the media should boycott Harris until she holds an actual press conference, instead of these orchestrated, softball sessions that seem more like auditions for stardom than serious political discourse.
