After weeks of dodging the media, the Harris-Walz campaign finally shifted gears and began sending Kamala Harris out for interviews. Of course, these were carefully staged appearances on networks that favor her with interviewers who do the same — but hey, they were interviews, right? I suppose that was the idea behind the strategy: undercut the narrative that she's too afraid of unscripted moments by letting her biggest cheerleaders handle the interviewing. From Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC to her appearance on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, Kamala is looking for the softest of softball interviews and still striking out.
Except none of the interviews have gone very well, and her "60 Minutes" interview on CBS News may have been her worst yet.
No matter how much she tries to run towards vibes and away from substance, Harris winds up facing substantive questions, and she repeatedly proves she has no idea how to answer them.
In one exchange, she refused to call Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu an ally.
Bill Whitaker pointed out that the U.S. supplies Israel with billions in military aid, yet Netanyahu seems to be making decisions independently, such as resisting calls for a ceasefire and entering Lebanon despite U.S. warnings. Harris responded with a word salad. “The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles," she said.
"But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening," Whitaker pointed out.
Queue the next word salad: "We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end."
Whitaker then asked her point blank: "Do we have a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu?"
"I think, with all due respect, the better question is do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people," Kamala replied. "And the answer to that question is yes."
WATCH as Kamala Harris SNUBS Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) October 8, 2024
Whitaker: “Do we have a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu?”
Harris: “With all due respect the better question is do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli… pic.twitter.com/Q2uxkm1Lqc
Whitaker also repeatedly pressed Kamala about how she plans to pay for her economic proposals. As you would expect, her responses were vague and lacked substance. Whitaker pointed out that her plan is estimated to add $3 trillion to the deficit and asked her how it would be funded. She went with the usual Democrat response that the rich need to pay their fair share of taxes. But Whitaker challenged her on that point.
"But we're dealing with the real world here," he said.
Harris began, "But the real world includes—" but Whitaker didn't let her filibuster the question.
"How are you gonna get this through Congress?"
"You know, when you talk quietly with a lot of folks in Congress, they know exactly what I'm talking about, 'cause their constituents know exactly what I'm talking about," she claimed. "Their constituents are those firefighters and teachers and nurses. Their constituents are middle-class, hard-working folk."
Whitaker didn't buy that. "And Congress has shown no inclination to move in your direction."
BILL WHITAKER: Your economic plan would add $3 trillion to the deficit over 10 years. How do you pay for it?
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 8, 2024
HARRIS: Trump’s plan is worse!
WHITAKER: But how do you pay for it?
HARRIS: Well, the rich need to pay their fair share!
WHITAKER: And how do you get this through… pic.twitter.com/0rM1Z0WaHG
But, the worst part of the interview may have been her response to being called out on her flip-flopping.
"Let me tell you what your critics and the columnists say. They say that the reason so many voters don't know you is that you have changed your position on so many things," Whitaker pointed out. "You were against fracking, now you're for it. You supported looser immigration policies, now you're tightening them up. You were for Medicare for all, now you're not. So many [flip-flops] that people don't truly know what you believe or what you stand for. And I know you've heard that."
Harris's response was the epitome of absurdity. "In the last four years, I have been vice president of the United States," she said. "And I have been traveling our country."
So, she flip-flops because she travels a lot? That's a new one. She continued, not by addressing these specific changes in policy positions, but by deflecting with vague, unfocused, rehearsed explanations about “traveling the country,” “listening to folks,” and “building consensus.” It all sounds like a euphemism for "I'm just saying what I need to say in order to win."
This might be the worst television interview by a candidate in U.S. presidential history.
— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) October 8, 2024
Bill Whitaker: “You’ve changed your positions so much that no one believes anything.”
Harris: “Well, I’m the vice president and I travel a lot.”pic.twitter.com/5T33OawnD5
The next substantive question Whitaker asked was about immigration, and it was an amazingly good question. "You recently visited the southern border and embraced President Biden's recent crackdown on asylum seekers. And that crackdown produced an almost immediate and dramatic decrease in the number of border crossings," he began. "If that's the right answer now, why didn't your administration take those steps in 2021?"
Recommended: WATCH: Peter Doocy Humiliated Karine Jean-Pierre, Who Stormed Out of the Briefing
In response, Harris decided to go on a bizarre tangent about a failed immigration bill from years ago. Instead of explaining her administration’s delay, she blamed Congress for not fixing the “broken immigration system” and leaned on her tired excuse that it's Donald Trump's fault the border isn't secure.
When Whitaker pressed her further by pointing out that border crossings quadrupled during the Biden-Harris administration, Kamala’s answer was basically a shrug. She offered nothing but the classic “it’s a longstanding problem” line, even though the Biden-Harris administration inherited the most secure southern border in history.
Harris is FINALLY facing some tough questions on her and Biden's immigration policy:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 8, 2024
"There was an historic flood of undocumented immigrants coming across the border the first 3 years of your administration. As a matter of fact, arrivals quadrupled...Was it a mistake to loosen… pic.twitter.com/4036d8V61I
Kamala Harris continues to prove that she isn't ready for the presidency, and it's amazing to that her campaign believes that doing these interviews is a net gain for her.
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