Kamala Harris’ CNN interview was too sane to be great TV. And that’s a good thing

https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/media/2024/08/29/harris-walz-interview-cnn/74973222007/

33 Comments

  1. UghFudgeBwana on

    My main complaint was the commercials. One question + followup per commercial break. Thanks, CNN, for reminding me why I stopped watching cable TV over a decade ago.

  2. elliottbaytrail on

    It’s just a bit genius that the Trump campaign built up this huge anticipation for a Harris interview and she sailed through it with presidential grace and clarity. The Trump team was definitely Jedi mind-tricked by Harris.

  3. Unfortunately it’s asymmetrical warfare. Kamala has to be absolutely perfect or she’ll get blasted by the media. Trump can shit his pants, praise Hannibal Lector, and trash Medal of Honor recipients, but if he manages to complete a whole sentence he’s treated seriously.

  4. StonkMaster300 on

    Why does the title need to sound so defensive? Why can’t they just say “the CNN interview went well” or something like that

  5. flyover_liberal on

    Lots of pointless gotcha questions instead of actually seeking information.  Harris and Walz did well.

  6. Wait, Harris didn’t call Bash “a nasty woman” and stormed out of the interview?

    I guess they didn’t get a single “gotcha” out of that interview.

    The huge controversy swirling around Trump right now is his despicable behavior at Arlington, where he did a shit grinning thumbs up over the graves of fallen soldiers, his goons pushing a female employee who was reminding them of the rules of this sacred place. Why not a single question about this gigantic issue that is currently dominating the headlines? Really, really strange.

  7. Virtual-Squirrel-725 on

    So, I just listened to Ben Shapiro’s reaction.

    He was struggling to find any takeaways for his audience other than.

    “My values haven’t changed” will be a disaster and be used in campaign ads.

    Not supporting fracking and now supporting fracking hurts her.

    If this is the best he can come up with, when they’ve built this up to be “the stupidest person ever about to show she can’t complete a sentence” then it must have been amazing for Harris.

  8. I watched it. She did pretty well I thought. B+ She needs to work on making her answers shorter, and less circuitous.

    I thought her worst answer was on Israel/Gaza. “We need to get a deal done” is an obvious statement, and kind a “well, yeah, duh” kind of answer. She will need more for the debate.

    I thought she was at her best when taking about her family, the “viral” picture, etc. Also, the “same tired playbook, next question” answer was dead on. Loved it.

    I understand the reasoning behind asking them about all the weird “gotcha” GOP talking points, but I sure wish Dana Bash had asked more substantial policy questions. C- for her as an interviewer.

    Walz’s role doesn’t get a grade, it’s a pass/no pass kind of deal here. He passed.

  9. Kamala Harris doesn’t have to move Heaven and Earth. She just has to be normal and, in so doing, achieve one simple goal: get Trump to react.

    Most Americans are just waiting for Trump to shuffle off. And the more he talks, the more support Harris gains.

    If Trump starts regaining his footing in the polls, Harris can take more risks. But why say anything divisive or risky if Trump continues to slide in the polls week after week? His lack of discipline is tanking his campaign and all Harris has to do is keep things respectful, upbeat, and professional to have the best chance at success.

  10. IndependentManner787 on

    Just finished watching the 3 parts on YouTube. Jesus, fuck CNN.

    Regarding the interview – it was refreshing to have discussions about *actual* things that matter, and Harris handled that “turned black” with perfection. She said what everyone was thinking.

    Overall not bad, but the fracking discussion was pointless. I got the distinct inference that banning fracking isn’t necessary, without saying it would be a fringe market anyway(and pissing off fracking workers). Well done, IMO. No idea why rational people would have a problem with it. Even Fox News had nothing.

    Best outcome is that Biden has refined her foreign policy work. Rational people get the reality of the Israel/Palestine conflict. Allies fucking matter y’all.

  11. Does anyone know where I can watch the interview? I’ve been looking all over and can’t find the full video

  12. I love how all the conservatives are trying to call it “cringe” or a “disaster” like they do with everything. They know their base won’t actually watch a second of this interview. Their programming prevents them from being able to watch anything that has a CNN logo on it.

  13. Electronic_Slide_236 on

    Politics need to get boring so the stupid people will get tired of it and ignore it.

  14. In conservative world this was an absolute train wreck and she dropped 5 points in polls from this. No seriously, I just read this. They live in a totally different world. 

    Edit: The other half are claiming this was a set up interview to make her look good. Need some time to get their messaging together I guess. 

  15. Iamjacksplasmid on

    I honestly would’ve liked to see them push back more on some of Dana’s questions. I think it would’ve been nice if she had responded to Bash questioning her on “flip-flopping” by just smiling and saying,

    “Well Dana, we all change our minds about things sometimes when presented with new information. I shouldn’t have to explain that to you, right? It’s like in 2011, when you resigned from your trustee position with Jewish Women International because of their position on reproductive choice, and their pro-choice advocacy.

    You were the trustee of a pro-women’s group, then you felt that their pro-choice stance wasn’t reconcilable with your values, then you resigned. Saying I’m still against fracking because of what I said in 2020? Why…that would be like saying you support women’s reproductive freedom because you were a trustee for JWI before 2011.

    See how silly that sounds Dana? It just doesn’t make any sense. You can ask the next question now.”

  16. Love the tax on unrealized capital gains. The only people critiquing it are the same ones who don’t understand tax brackets.

    Literally saw a tweet say Bill Gates will need to pay $10s of billions in his first year. Thousands of retweets. The stupidity.

    This tax will hit only the ultra-rich class, and hard, they’ll not be able to evade taxable realized capital gains by simply borrowing their way to even more riches.

  17. Everyone is saying “people change” but are the things she has “changed” on not crucial parts of what made her likable to people?

  18. I asked a friend how it was going and they responded that they got bored and did something else. I breathed a sigh of relief

  19. Ok-Volume-3657 on

    I think she handled the interview better than some of Trump’s interviews, but some of her policies are pretty similar to what Trump ran on in 2020.

    * The bi-partisan border bill she’s talking about is literally a border wall.
    * Trump was pro-fracking in 2020 (still is) now so is Kamala.

    I wana make it clear, Trump’s current policies are worse, of course they are. But if Kamala Harris is adopting some of the republican policies from 2020, what will democratic policies look like in 2028?

    (Also she said she was open to republicans joining her cabinet)

  20. VP Harris did a great job on the interview. Ignoring Trumps statement about her being black was priceless and must have made him throw his hamberder at the wall!

  21. I missed it. Sounds like the feral Trumpers are beyond pissed she didn’t bring up the late great Hannibal Lector?

  22. Raspberries-Are-Evil on

    They demand policy specifics from her- and for Trump, they accept unhinged word salad and treat him like he is a genius.

  23. If Kamala Harris was up against anyone who wasn’t a goddamn pants shitting lunatic, she would look so much worse by comparison.

    I cannot discern her from, like, a mid 2000’s Republican with her statements on fracking and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Truly it was horrendous hearing her say that she’s pretty much pro-destroying the environment and for not changing the approach toward getting a ceasefire at all.

  24. I cannot believe I got multiple NYT news alerts about this one CNN interview.

    They just need to flood the zone with these until the press loses interest.