Kamala Harris to give first major interview as candidate, a key test of credibility | US election 2024
Kamala Harris will give her first major interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee on Thursday, in what is seen as a key test of her credibility after a prolonged honeymoon that saw her trail Donald Trump in opinion polls.
She and her running mate, Tim Walz, will face CNN’s Dana Bash in a pre-recorded event that was scheduled following some criticism of Harris’ reluctance to expose herself to media scrutiny after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket last month in place of Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race on July 21.
The US vice president, whose performance in previous television interviews has been mixed, had previously pledged to give a major interview before the end of August.
CNN’s appointment sees her deliver on that promise two days early.
The terms of her engagement drew mockery from Republicans, who accused Harris of being unwilling to risk high-profile questioning without the protective presence of Walz, the Minnesota governor who has cultivated an image as a straight-talking, everyman.
“Kamala needs to do a live, unedited, solo press conference,” Abigail Jackson, communications director for right-wing Missouri senator Josh Hawley, wrote on X. “She wants to be commander in chief and she’s too scared to do an interview without Tim Walz by her side? That’s girl power, right?”
Others pointed out that it was customary for presidential candidates to grant interviews to their running mates.
The interview, which will take place in the historic southern city of Savannah during a two-day campaign in key Georgia state, is expected to focus in part on Harris’ policy positions, which have been criticized in some quarters as both vague and a departure from the more liberal positions she espoused during her unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination in 2020.
CNN’s choice of outlet and Bash as interviewer has also been criticized by Trump supporters, who say the two are pro-Democrats and unlikely to ask tough questions. The network hosted the June 27 presidential debate — with Bash as co-moderator with colleague Jake Tapper — that led to Biden dropping out of the race after a disastrous performance.
Harris’ ability to handle tough interviews has been called into question following a brutal encounter with ABC’s Lester Holt in 2021, when she appeared annoyed when asked why she had not visited the southern U.S. border during her tenure as vice president to uncover the underlying causes of illegal migration.
His delay in giving interviews contrasts with that of Trump, who has recently increased his media appearances, even calling Fox News and Newsmax, two of his favorite outlets, to voice live, on air, his criticism of Harris’ acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention last week.
