Five Embarrassing Moments From Harris’ MSNBC Interview

For perhaps the first time, MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle was the smartest person in the room during her Wednesday interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. The interview went about as well as you could expect between a candidate who has dodged press questions and a “journalist” who justified Harris’ lack of availability to the American public because “she’s running against Trump.”

Ruhle did concede that Harris couldn’t “give a clear and direct answer,” though couched that by saying it was “okay because we’re not talking about clear and direct issues.”

But here are five times Ruhle asked Harris a “clear and direct” question but couldn’t get a “clear and direct answer.”

1. Why Should Voters Who Care About The Economy Choose Harris?

Ruhle asked Harris about her “economic vision,” noting “lots of Americans … don’t see themselves in your plans.” Harris responded by repeating her growing-up-in-a-“middle class”-family-line before rambling on about how she is so “energized by what I know to be the spirit and character of the American people.” Ruhle countered that “most likely voters still think Donald Trump is better to handle the economy.”

“Well, here’s what I know in terms of the facts,” Harris said unironically, “Donald Trump left us with the worst economy since the Great Depression, when you look at, for example, the employment numbers —”

“It was during COVID, and employment was so high because we shut the government, we shut the country down,” Ruhle interjected.

“Even before the pandemic, he lost manufacturing jobs … at least 200,000. He lost manufacturing plants.”

But “in terms of facts,” prior to the pandemic, Trump “presided over a gain of 414,000 US manufacturing jobs,” CNN reported.

2. Harris Can’t Explain How She’d Pay For Her Socialist-Style Policies

Ruhle also asked Harris about taxes, noting Americans felt relief under Trump’s tax cuts. Harris promised that anyone “making less than $400,000 a year” will not see a tax increase. Harris vowed to expand the child tax credit, prompting Ruhle to ask how expanding the child tax credit or giving people money to purchase their first home could be accomplished without raising “corporate taxes or if the GOP takes control of the Senate.”

“Where do you get the money to do that?” Ruhle asked.

Harris said she would raise the corporate tax rate, prompting Ruhle to ask how Harris would walk the fine line between making “sure corporations are paying their fair share” but also “not leaving our country.”

Harris then rambled on about her relationships with CEOs who — according to Harris — will suddenly care more about “investing in the middle class” than they will about ensuring their profits don’t crater.

Ruhle later told fellow MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace that Harris never actually answered the question.

“If the GOP is controlling the Senate, if she can’t raise corporate taxes, where is she going to get the money from to expand the child tax credit and do whatever she wants to do? And she says, ‘We just have to do it,’” Ruhle said. “That’s great and that’s a campaign promise, but the issue is, if it means we’re gonna just borrow again, then what we’re doing is we’re just never addressing the deficit.”

3. Harris Tosses Up A Word Salad

Harris struggled to find a different word than “holistic” when trying (and failing) to explain how she will increase affordable housing.

“Looking holistically at the connection between that and housing and looking holistically at the incentives we in the federal government can create for local and state governments to actually engage in planning in a holistic manner that includes prioritizing affordable housing,” Harris said, whatever that means …

4. Harris Doesn’t Know Why Teamsters Union Won’t Endorse Her

Harris also couldn’t explain why the Teamsters Union didn’t endorse her.

“When the Teamsters decided not to endorse you, what was their reasoning? What are they looking for?” Ruhle asked.

“I stand by workers and I stand by the importance of being able to join a union and to understand the benefit and the value of unions,” Harris said. “And I understand the importance of investing in new industries and working actively with the private sector to grow our economy.”

“But I’m asking, because there’s this idea, we want something more from her. What is it?” Ruhle asked.

“Well, here the thing that — back to your point about previous election cycles,” Harris began before arguing Trump “broke” a “whole lot of promises” but that she has “stood with union labor.”

But if “standing” with union labor means blocking U.S. Railroad Workers from striking in 2021 and championing radical environmental policies supported by activist groups that, in part, pushed U.S. Steel out of Pennsylvania, then Teamsters would probably rather be sitting.

5. Harris Won’t ‘Apologize’ For Wanting To Create Price Controls

Harris was then asked how she could “go after price gouging without implementing price controls?”

“I am never going to apologize for going after companies and corporations that take advantage of the desperation of the American people,” Harris said, adding such policy is “part of a much more comprehensive plan on what we can do to bring down the cost of living, including housing, including the everyday needs of the American people.”

Harris did not elaborate on what the “more comprehensive plan” entails, nor did Ruhle inquire about such a “plan.”

Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2