Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has a pattern when she is interviewed, and it was on display Thursday night during the Univision Television townhall meeting where she took questions from undecided Latino voters.
Univision will host a similar event next week featuring former President Donald Trump.
Harris never gave a straight answer; often she gave no answer at all. She talked, but danced around direct answers, and in the end said nothing of substance.
We have seen this before, but if you zero in on it, there is a pattern. It goes like this: Thank you for the question. Mention how your own life relates to this issue. Talk about problems related to the topic. Make a quick, vague policy statement. Throw in some attacks on Trump when possible.
Let’s look at how Harris handled questions from the Univision town hall.
A man from Tampa, Florida, said he saw in the news that the Biden-Harris administration did not do enough in response to Hurricane Helene. “What would you or your administration specifically do to help us in the Tampa Bay area, or central Florida, to help us with this hurricane?”
Harris thanked him for the question and told him there has been a lot of disinformation about what the administration has been doing.
Next, she related the question to her life experiences: “I have to stress that this is not a time for people to play politics. I started my career as a prosecutor, and when I worked doing that job … I never asked a witness or a victim of crime, ‘Are you a Republican? Are you a Democrat?’ The only question ever asked is, are you okay? And sadly, we have seen over the last two weeks, since Hurricane Helene, and now in the immediate aftermath of Milton, where people are playing political games, suggesting that resources and support is only going to certain people based on a political agenda. And this is just not accurate.”
Harris said she was in a meeting with the president, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the head of the Coast Guard, talking about how the federal, state, and local governments are working together for the benefit of the people on the ground.
Then she made a vague promise: “Another piece of work that I’ve been doing, it’s based on my years of being an attorney general in California, is telling … companies that, during crisis and emergencies, jack up prices … We’re watching them. And at a moment of desperation for these individuals and families, whether it be temporary shelter at a hotel for gas prices, even airline tickets, that we’ll be watching if they’re jacking up prices, to make sure there will be serious consequence. And that’s the kind of work I will do going forward. I have spent the vast majority of my career, concerning myself with the basic well-being of people, and I promise you, and I’ve pledged to you, as president, I will continue to do that. You have a right to know that your government leaders are putting you first, not themselves.”
That was a lot of razzle dazzle. To review, the question was: What would you specifically do to help us with this hurricane?
Her answer: Make sure companies don’t price gouge. Have concern for the well-being of people, and put people first.
Not much specific action there.
The town hall attendees asked interesting questions that deserved straight answers. Let’s look at the answers without all the fluff.
A homeless woman, 62, said she had a heart attack in 2020 and other health issues. She worked for decades until she got sick.
“I lost my job, my income. I had no choice but total to apply for Social Security Disability,” she said. She has been waiting three years for a decision. “I have no income. I lost everything. I can’t get the medical treatment that I need. My question for you is, how will you help the disabled people so that they can get insurance?”
Answer: “Everyone should have access to housing, education, dignity, and there is still a lot of work we have to do in that regard,” Harris said. “There are a number of issues that I think you’re raising around how we have to see this.”
Harris did say she would like to see medical debt not be included on credit reports. But to a homeless woman, a credit rating is the least of her immediate problems. Harris agreed there is a problem, but she did not offer any solution.
A recent college graduate said there were “Dreamers” in his class who were afraid of being deported. How would you get them to be citizens? These are undocumented immigrants who were illegally brought to the United States as children, grew up in American culture, and identify as American.
Answer: “That is one of my motivations for what I know we must do. And they’re afraid. They’re constantly worried,” Harris said. “They should not have to live in fear, but should have an ability to earn their citizenship. So, it is one of my priorities. And I’ve worked on this in terms of Dreamers for many, many years, and I’ll continue to fight for you.”
She agreed with the questioner, but never said how she would make it happen.
This is how it went for an hour. Good questions and lousy answers.
It worked for Harris in this format because there was no opportunity for follow-up questions.
Her answer pattern works in other formats too, because often the person asking the question has limited time and wants to get to more questions; they may be afraid to challenge her or worry that she answered and they just didn’t understand; or they may want to be polite and not press her for details.
Anyone interviewing Harris in the final days of the campaign should prepare to rephrase the question many times and keep her on topic until she lands on an answer relevant to the question. She wants to lead the conversation away from the tough topics.
After such a long political career, Harris should be better at communicating. We are seeing her at her best, and it is not good enough.
For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.
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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