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Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will appear together for their first joint interview with CNN on Thursday, as Democrats aim to sustain the momentum from last week’s Democratic National Convention.
The interview, conducted by Dana Bash, CNN’s chief political correspondent and anchor, will be broadcast at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday. This interview takes place as the candidates start a bus tour across Georgia, a key battleground state, and marks Harris’s first detailed on-the-record conversation with a journalist since President Joe Biden withdrew from his re-election bid and endorsed her on July 21.
In the 37 days since her campaign began, Harris has experienced a surge of enthusiasm and support, notably at the convention in Chicago. However, her lack of a formal press conference or interview has attracted criticism from Republican opponents. The interview is part of Harris’s commitment to have a sit-down with the media before the end of August.
With this interview, Harris is transitioning into a new phase of her campaign following the convention. Her team expects increased scrutiny as she and Walz enter the final weeks before early voting starts. Harris is also preparing for a debate on September 10 with her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.
Recently, Harris has answered a few shouted questions from reporters while campaigning in key states. She also participated in three interviews with content creators and influencers during the DNC, reflecting her campaign’s belief that younger voters are turning to non-traditional news sources.
Despite these efforts, criticism has persisted, particularly from Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Senator JD Vance, who condemned both Harris and the media for allowing the presumptive Democratic nominee to avoid direct questions for over a month. Vance and Trump have been more active in their media engagements during the same period.
Some of Vance’s and Trump’s media interactions have caused issues for both, with Vance needing to clarify past remarks about childless women and Trump making false claims about Harris’s racial identity. These media missteps may be reasons why Harris’s campaign has been cautious.
The upcoming interview will be Harris’s first opportunity to clarify her stances on various domestic and international issues in a campaign that has thus far been more focused on general sentiments rather than specific policies. It will also allow her to address any potential differences in her positions compared to Biden.
Previous major interviews have posed challenges for Harris. During a 2021 interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, she was visibly frustrated when questioned about her lack of a visit to the US-Mexico border, which she was assigned to investigate regarding migration from Central and South America.
In a more recent interview, following a problematic June 27 debate that ended Biden’s hopes for re-election, Harris gave a robust defence of the president’s performance in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, standing firmly in support of Biden.
NANCY MBAMALU
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