Well, well, well. It looks like Vice President Kamala Harris’s long-awaited solo interview turned out to be less of a policy deep dive and more of a dodge-fest.
Sitting down with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, Harris had the perfect opportunity to showcase her presidential chops ahead of 2024. Instead, she delivered a master class in avoiding direct questions. And get this—even The New York Times couldn’t ignore the trainwreck! When the Times, of all places, is calling you out, you know it’s bad.
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
Their headline may have been polite—“3 Takeaways From Kamala Harris’s Interview on MSNBC”—but the subheadline cut right to the point: “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.” Ouch.
First up, Harris was asked a simple question about the economy. You know, that little issue where voters seem to trust Donald Trump over her and Biden to get things right? Instead of addressing why Trump’s economic policies are resonating more with voters, she rambled on about how Trump supposedly decimated manufacturing jobs. No mention of inflation or how the Biden-Harris team plans to fix anything. It’s like she forgot she was running for president and just hit “replay” on the same tired talking points.
The second takeaway was even more revealing. When Ruhle asked Harris to consider what she’d do if Democrats lost the Senate (a very real possibility, by the way), Harris completely ignored the question. Instead, she stuck to her usual spiel about taxing billionaires and corporations. “Everyone should pay their fair share,” she said—because, apparently, that’s the solution to everything. Sure, go ahead and talk about raising corporate taxes when you’re faced with a likely Republican-controlled Senate that will shut down that idea faster than you can say “filibuster.” Brilliant.
The third point wasn’t even a critique of Harris—it was a dig at the entire interview. Epstein from the Times called it what it was: a fluff piece. He pointed out that Harris has been doing interviews recently, but only with “friendly inquisitors” like Ruhle, who let her off the hook when her answers were vague and evasive. Ruhle, for her part, admitted that Harris didn’t really give straight answers but didn’t seem too bothered by it. No tough follow-ups, no real accountability. Just one more soft-ball session where Harris can claim she did an interview without actually having to answer anything meaningful.
The New York Times absolutely evicerated Kamala’s interview on MSNBC last night pic.twitter.com/2xaolETTbq
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 26, 2024
So what did Kamala gain from this? Honestly, not much. Sure, her team can now say she did a one-on-one interview, but if you’re trying to convince voters that you’re ready for the big leagues, dodging questions about the economy, the Senate, and Trump isn’t exactly a winning strategy. And if even the New York Times is calling you out, maybe it’s time to rethink that approach.
