Everything to know about first interview Harris will give since her campaign launch – Washington Examiner
The article discusses Vice President Kamala Harris’s upcoming interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, marking her first joint interview since launching her presidential campaign about five weeks ago. The interview, set to take place in Georgia with her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, comes amidst growing anticipation regarding her political platform and stance on various issues, particularly as questions have arisen since her campaign began in July following President Biden’s withdrawal from the race.
Harris has been active on the campaign trail but has faced criticisms for her limited engagement with the press and lack of a clearly outlined policy agenda. Particularly, she has revealed only a few policies, including a proposed ban on price gouging, which has drawn skepticism. The interview is seen as an important opportunity for voters to evaluate Harris as the Democratic nominee outside of scripted events.
The article also reflects on Harris’s past experiences with media interviews, highlighting both successes and challenges. A notable moment was her 2021 interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, during which she faced backlash for her responses regarding migration and border control. The upcoming interview with Bash is anticipated to provide further insight into Harris’s current viewpoints and her campaign strategy as the election approaches.
Everything to know about first interview Harris will give since her campaign launch
More than five weeks after launching her White House bid, Vice President Kamala Harris will sit down for an interview with a major network as the campaign heads into the home stretch.
Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), will sit down with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday in Georgia after weeks of questions about when she would sit for an interview. Here is what to know about the highly anticipated interview.
Why is there anticipation for the interview?
Since Harris began her campaign in July, after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, questions have surrounded her views and platform, specifically on how they would differ from the 2020 Democratic primary campaign that saw her take several hard-left stances.
The vice president has been on the campaign trail frequently, but she has taken few questions from the press and has not unveiled an extensive policy platform, with her website not having a section for policy as of Wednesday morning.
While spokespeople and aides have told the press she no longer supports some of her past proposals, Harris has yet to be pressed on the matters. One policy she has unveiled is her proposed ban on price gouging, which has drawn criticism for appearing similar to price controls.
The interview on Thursday, along with the debate between her and former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10, will be the first opportunities for voters to see the vice president as the Democratic nominee unscripted and outside of a rally or similar event. Once Harris and Walz sit down for their interview on Thursday, it will have been 39 days since Harris joined the race for the White House.
What is Harris’s history with network interviews?
Since entering the White House as Biden’s vice president in 2021, Harris has had several special moments in interviews.
At the beginning of her tenure, Harris did an interview with a local television station in West Virginia, pushing for COVID-19 relief in the form of the American Rescue Plan. But the appearance pleading the case for the bill caught Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) off guard and upset him — when Democrats needed his vote. Ultimately, they got Manchin’s vote on the measure, and the bill was signed into law in March 2021.
Three months later, Harris stumbled in a major interview with NBC News’s Lester Holt. When pressed on her role managing the “root causes” of migration to the United States and why she hadn’t visited the southern border, she said, “We are going to the border. … We’ve been to the border.”
When Holt corrected Harris, saying she hadn’t visited the border as vice president, she shot back that she hadn’t been to Europe, either.
“And I haven’t been to Europe,” Harris said. “And I mean, I don’t understand the point that you’re making. I’m not discounting the importance of the border.”
That disastrous interview cemented criticisms in the minds of her biggest detractors that she wasn’t ready for prime time, and she avoided interviews over the following year.
What is Dana Bash’s history with Harris?
Thursday night’s sit-down with Bash won’t be the first time Harris has interacted with the CNN host.
Harris sat down with Bash in April 2021, when she claimed she was the last person in the room on the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in August of that year. The interview later resurfaced after the chaotic withdrawal.
Bash also got the first interview with Harris after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022, when she said the White House would “do everything” to ensure access to medication abortion. In the interview, she also said Biden would be seeking reelection and that she would be his running mate. Biden ended his reelection bid last month, and Harris has taken over at the top of the ticket.
Where can I watch the interview?
The interview will air on CNN at 9 p.m. as part of a special titled The First Interview: Harris & Walz A CNN Exclusive.
The first interview of the Democratic presidential ticket will come 68 days before Election Day and only weeks before early voting in some key states begins.
Harris and Walz will participate in debates against their Republican counterparts in the coming weeks. Harris and Trump will square off in an ABC News presidential debate on Sept. 10, while Walz and Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), will face off in a CBS News vice presidential debate on Oct. 1.
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