CNN’s Jake Tapper criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for dodging debate questions. She went to her usual talking points instead of explaining *how* she would approach the issues in the questions.
From the segment:
Tapper: Vice President Harris began the debate by punting the first question on the economy.*jumps to debate clip*David Muir: Do you think Americans are better off than they were four years ago?Harris: So, I was raised as a middle-class kid. And I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America.*back to Tapper*Tapper: It went on from there. Despite the economy being the number one issue facing the country, the sitting vice president generally reverted to talking points about a few of her policy proposals. Even Harris allies today are saying that she needs to talk more about what she will do for Americans if elected.Sen. Bernie Sanders will be here in a second to talk more about the need to fill in some of those blanks.On the border, another vulnerable issue for Harris, she also dodged.*jumps to debate*Muir: Would you have done anything differently from President Joe Biden on this?Harris: So I’m the only person on this stage who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings.*back to Tapper*Tapper: That wasn’t the question. When asked how she would breakthrough the Israel-Hamas war stalement, Harris said this.*jump to debate*Harris: We need a ceasefire deal and we need the hostages out. And so we will continue to work around the clock on that.*back to Tapper*Tapper: Okay…but again, how?
Tapper knew the left would attack him for saying anything negative about Harris.
So Tapper added: “While by no means are we equating the two performances last night, it is also true that at times both Trump and Harris fell short of giving straightforward answers to questions about how exactly they would run the country.”
I found some people, not necessarily Harris allies, who also said she hurt herself by not answering these questions.
CNN’s Sara Sidner said: “But, you know, for the Harris campaign, they’re really going to have to try to articulate, I think, more clearly to voters exactly what some of her policy points are as she gets out there on the campaign trail. And we know from the campaign that she’s going to be doing more interviews, something we haven’t seen her do a lot of in the past weeks, and that she’s going to be really trying to expand on her outreach to voters that have questions about who she is and what her policies are.”
Van Jones said the debate showed Harris needs to do more interviews: “Listen, if you‘re Kamala Harris right now and you‘re listening, talk to reporters now. Talk to everybody. If you can handle Donald Trump, a raging bull, if you can be the matador against this crazy person, you can talk to a reporter. Get out here, let people ask the tough questions. You can do it. And I think she can start closing the deal with the people who are Kamala-curious, but who still don’t know what she’s gonna do for them.”
CNN’s Jennifer Stefano: “Hands down he won this debate on policy and he was able to answer the question that — that Vice President Harris would not and that is whether or not people are better off than they were four years ago, and unfortunately they’re not.”
Big Data Poll Director Rich Baris: “They were looking for her to give them an excuse to vote for her. And I’m talking about voters who may not want to vote for Donald Trump, but they needed her to explain to them how exactly she’s going to be different than Joe Biden. And that is that is a theme today from the voters that we we set up to talk to about this, you know, this debate after, you know, a couple hours while it was still fresh in their mind. I think she put on a show, like you said, and that was not what voters were looking for.”
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