Kamala Harris spent over a month cloistered away during her campaign for leader of the free world before finally sitting for a controlled, prerecorded interview Thursday with CNN’s Dana Bash. And at her side like a chaperone was vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.
Bash said at the outset that viewers would see the interview “in its entirety.”
We did learn some new things in the brief interview that was punctuated by several commercial breaks and slick cut-aways showing the duo on the campaign trail in Georgia.
We now know Kamala Harris makes her own bacon on Sunday mornings. That is what she was doing when President Joe Biden called to tell her he was dropping out of the race. She grows her own hot peppers at home, too. And she was “deeply touched and humbled” by a photo taken at the Democratic Convention that showed her speaking at the big podium while her young grand niece looked on in the foreground.
“You didn’t explicitly talk about gender or race in your speech, but it obviously means a lot to a lot of people, and that viral picture really says it,” Bash gushed. “What does it mean to you?”
Given Harris’ elusiveness, and the short length of the interview, it was a waste of time to focus on such fluff. What if Harris decides not to do an interview for another month? Bash should not have squandered the moment.
In an exchange with Walz lasting almost one and a half minutes, Bash rehashed the “stand out moment” at the convention when his son was seen cheering and crying as his father accepted the Democrat vice-presidential nomination.
Walz talked about how proud he is of his son, his wife, and his family.
“I think the one thing is, talking about the era we’re in, is our politics can be better. It can be different. We can show some of these things, and we can have families involved in this,” Walz said. “And I hope that people felt that out there, and I hope they hug their kids a little tighter, because you just never know. Life can be kind of hard.”
What does that even mean?
Granted, Bash asked some important questions before the first commercial break. And sometimes she had to ask a question twice.
That’s what happened with the first question: If you are elected, what would you do on day one in the White House?
With eyes cast down, as if referring to notes much of the time, Harris started her answer without specifics and then drifted off course.
“There are a number of things. I will tell you. First and foremost, one of my highest priorities, is to do what we can to support and strengthen the middle class,” Harris said. “When I look at the aspirations, the goals, the ambitions of the American people, I think that people are ready for a new way forward, in a way that generations of Americans have been fueled by hope and by optimism. I think sadly, in the last decade, we have had in the former president someone who has really been pushing an agenda and an environment that is about diminishing the character and the strength of who we are as Americans, really dividing our nation, and I think people are ready to turn the page on that.”
None of that describes something concrete that can be done. Bash asked again.
“So, what would you do on day one?”
Harris kept talking until she bumped into an answer.
“Day one, it’s going to be about implementing my plan for what I call an opportunity economy. I’ve already laid out a number of proposals in that regard, which include what we’re going to do to bring down the cost of everyday goods. What we’re going to do to invest in America’s small businesses, what we’re going to do to invest in families, for example, extending child tax credit to $6,000 for families for the first year of their child’s life, to help them buy a car seat, to help them buy baby clothes, a crib. There’s the work that we’re going to do that is about investing in the American family around affordable housing, a big issue in our country right now. So, there are a number of things on day one.”
Bash gave in and turned to Walz with the same question. He similarly skirted specifics.
Bash asked what Harris has to say to Americans who want to go back to the economy under former President Donald Trump, when things were more affordable.
Harris blamed the economy on Covid, which she said was mismanaged by Trump, and said the current administration has not fixed it because they have been recovering.
Finesse on Fracking
On fracking, Bash asked Harris about the 2019 video where she said she is in favor of banning fracking.
Harris chose her words carefully, insisting her position has been clear since 2020. She vowed Thursday that she will not ban fracking, an important issue for many Pennsylvania voters, but she also tried to appease her environmental supporters.
“My values have not changed. I believe it is very important that we take seriously what we must do to guard against what is a clear crisis in terms of the climate,” Harris said. She touted the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, the massive spending bill that places CO2 emissions restrictions on parts of the energy sector that could affect the fracking industry.
“What we have done to invest, by my calculation, over probably a trillion dollars over the next 10 years, investing in a clean energy economy,” Harris said, “We can do it without banning fracking,” Harris said.
A follow up question would have been good here. Like, we can do what without banning fracking? Do you mean, end fracking without banning it by placing increasingly restrictive emissions standards on the industry?
Harris was not direct, and Bash did not press her, merely accepting the answer at face value.
“I will not ban fracking,” is not the whole story.
And that is how the interview was served — a healthy helping of benign questions and lots of moments that required reading between the lines.
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
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