Kamala Harris gives her first TV interview since her nomination. Many observers see the appearance as a success – but there is also criticism.
Update from August 30, 1:07 p.m.: Was the first interview between Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz a success? Several US political scientists addressed this question on Friday. Susan McWilliams Barndt from Pomona College in California told Newsweek that the broadcast was not a “happy conversation.” “It was a job interview,” and Harris made the right decision by focusing primarily on politics.
“Harris summed up the case she had tried to make toward the end of the interview when she said, 'I'm the best person for the job right now,'” the analysis continued. The vice president and her running mate had played it safe.
Harris interview on CNN: Democrat failed to answer sensitive issue
However, Grant Reeher of Syracuse University also noted that Harris has failed to differentiate herself from the current Biden administration, making it difficult for potential voters to figure out what a possible President Harris would stand for. “I have absolutely no idea how a Harris presidency would differ from a Biden presidency,” Reeher said.
Trump's campaign team had also repeatedly called on Harris to stand for “business as usual” in US politics and to criticize her for failures during her time as vice president.
After Harris’ CNN interview – Trump back in the lead in polls
Update from August 30, 11.15 am: Almost at the same time as her first interview as the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris has suffered a setback in a new poll for the 2024 US election. For the first time in several weeks, data guru Nate Silver sees Trump ahead of Harris again in his forecast for the US election in November. The reason for this is probably mainly new surveys from the “battleground state” of Pennsylvania, which see Trump back in the lead. Even if Harris continues to lead in national polls, the electoral system can already be decisive for the outcome of the 2024 US election.
Harris interview on CNN on the 2024 US election: Trump reacts to “Comrade Kamala”
Update from August 30, 8:50 a.m.: The interview with the TV station CNN was a test for Kamala Harris – which she seems to have passed: There were no major blunders in the half-hour conversation. On the other hand, it is questionable whether she was able to score points with the undecided voters with the conversation.
Her opponent Donald Trump initially simply found the interview “boring”. Later he wrote again on his mouthpiece Truth Social, in capital letters of course: “COMRADE KAMALA: 'MY VALUES HAVE NOT CHANGED.'” He probably wanted to make it clear that he still thinks she is a communist. At least he quoted her correctly. With her statement she had responded to criticism from Republicans that she had changed her stance on important issues.
Update from August 30th, 7:00 a.m.: Kamala Harris expressed her views in the interview with the broadcaster CNN clearly outlined: The Democrat announced that she would take tough action against illegal migration and work for a fairer economy. She also accused her rival Donald Trump of dividing the USA. The people in the USA, on the other hand, are ready for a “new way forward”. And she continued: “I am the best person for the job.”
First Harris interview on TV: “Suddenly a black woman”? Harris accuses Trump of “old trick”
Update from August 30, 5.20 a.m.: Kamala Harris has described Donald Trump's statements about her identity as a black woman as “the same old, stale ploy.” When asked about Trump's accusation that she had only recently started identifying as a black woman for political reasons, Harris accused the Republican presidential candidate in the CNNinterview. They simply said that Trump's approach was “the same old, stale trick.” “Next question, please,” said the 59-year-old – and laughed.
First Harris interview on CNN: Trump opponent is open to surprising personnel
Update from August 30th, 5:00 a.m.: In her first TV interview since her nomination, the Democratic US presidential candidate defended the successes of President Joe Biden's administration and called for a new political beginning. “What I think the American people deserve is a new way forward and a departure from the last decade,” said Harris. She announced that if she wins the election she would bring a Republican into her cabinet – Obama had also done this once. She insisted on consequences for illegal border crossings.
US election 2024: Trump and Republicans continue to search for suitable Harris strategy ahead of CNN interview
First report from August 29th: Washington, DC – The 2024 US election is gaining momentum; the appointments of presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are piling up, the rhetoric is becoming more caustic. Now Harris and her running mate Tim Walz will give an interview together for the first time. Although the Democrats’ hopeful has recently appeared several times with Walz at campaign events, there has not yet been a televised interview. That will now follow on Thursday evening (local time, 3 a.m. in Germany) exclusively on the channel CNN.
Harris' already shortened campaign is entering a new phase; her team fears, according to a CNN-Preliminary report that she and Walz will be scrutinized even more closely in the coming months until the US election. The next step will be the TV duel against Donald Trump on September 10. Harris has also approached his running mate, JD Vance, for the interviews that have so far been missing.
Criticism from Republicans and the right wing was not long in coming. The US broadcaster had barely CNN When the planned interview was announced, Kamala Harris was bombarded with criticism. Why the vice president and Democratic candidate could not speak alone; whether her running mate Tim Walz had to hold her hand while she spoke – questions that right-wing populist accounts on X threw at each other without even wanting an answer.
“I find it truly disgraceful, both for Kamala Harris and for much of the American media that is involved in this issue, that a person who has been the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for 17 days refuses to take a single question from the American media,” Vance said in Wisconsin earlier this month, before Harris was officially nominated by the Democrats.
Criticism of US election: Harris' interview plans with Walz are “incredibly weak”
CNN instead refers to short interviews, for example with influencers. “An example of their campaign's belief that voters – especially young voters – get their news from less traditional sources,” the broadcaster writes. In general, Republicans still lack the access to an effective approach against Harris. Attempts to label the 59-year-old as “suddenly black” or “childless cat woman” have backfired for Trump and Vance.
But the journalist and CNN-Commentator Scott Jennings did not hold back with his criticism. He described Harris' plan to appear on camera with Minnesota Governor Walz as “incredibly weak”. Jennings also argued that the interview is unlikely to change many opinions and will only fuel criticism from Republicans. However, he has great confidence in the broadcaster and its chief political correspondent Dana Bash, who will conduct the exclusive interview.
But the former adviser to former President George Bush went even further: “The fact that they don't have enough confidence in her to let her sit at the top of the list and give a single interview.” “In fact, I think the hand-wringing and back-and-forth over the last few months shows a disturbing lack of confidence in her political abilities,” said Jennings, referring to the final stretch of the US election.
Controversy over first Harris interview before US election: “She is the damn vice president”
Another point of criticism: the CNNThe interview will be pre-recorded. This would allow Harris' campaign team to smooth over the conversation before the broadcast and “make the presidential candidate look good” ahead of the US election, in other words, the Republican rhetoric.
USA TodayColumnist Rex Huppke was outraged by the critical comments, saying that Kamala Harris was “the damn vice president.” “She has negotiated with world leaders and engaged in extensive diplomacy. She has been a prosecutor and attorney general. Let's stop this damn, degrading 'she can't do an interview' nonsense,” Huppke wrote on X.
Things are getting exciting in the US election campaign
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US election 2024: CNN interview will give Harris the opportunity to raise her profile
Republicans – especially Donald Trump – have also sharply attacked incumbent President Joe Biden in recent months for not speaking often enough in person. After his widely acclaimed State of the Union address in March, some Republicans and right-wing populists claim that Biden was drugged to be able to speak forcefully.
The interview will give Kamala Harris her first opportunity to present her positions on various domestic and foreign policy issues. So far, the Democratic presidential candidate has thrived on the renewed enthusiasm within her party and among progressive voters. This is also shown by polls on the US election.
Now Harris could make clear how her positions would differ from those of Biden and thus raise her profile – if Tim Walz does not steal the limelight from her. (naked)
