Vice President Kamala Harris sat down for her first solo interview on Friday with Brian Taff, an anchor with Action News 6 ABC, a local station in Philadelphia. It did not go well.
Taff opened the discussion by noting that voters want to know more about Harris and her specific plans. He asked, “When we talk about bringing down prices and making life more affordable for people, what are one or two specific things you have in mind for that?”
Harris replied, “Well, we’ll start with this. I grew up a middle class kid. My mother raised my sister and me. She worked very hard. She was able to finally save up enough money to buy our first house when I was a teenager. I grew up in a community of hardworking people. You know, construction workers and nurses and teachers. I try to explain to some people who might not have had the same experience, but a lot of people will relate to this.”
She continued, “You know, I grew up in a neighborhood of folks who were very proud of their lawn. Ya know? And I was raised to believe and to know that all people deserve dignity and that we as Americans have a beautiful character. You know, we have ambitions and aspirations and dreams, but not everyone necessarily has access to the resources that can help them fuel those dreams and ambitions. So, when I talk about building an opportunity economy, it is very much with the mind of investing in the ambitions and aspirations and the incredible work ethic of the American people and creating opportunity for people, for example, to start a small business.”
She then spoke of her neighbor, the small business owner she mentioned during the debate, with whom she was very close. She went off on a tangent about the importance of small businesses which she said are “so much of the fabric of our communities” and “the backbone of America’s economy.” While this is true, I doubt Kamala really believes it.
Two minutes into her response, she said her administration will give startups a $50,000 tax deduction.
After rambling for another minute, she shared her plan to build three million new homes for Americans by the end of her first term.
Three and a half minutes later, she was – mercifully – done with her first answer.
If Harris’s reply sounds familiar to you, it’s because we heard parts of it – almost verbatim – three days earlier, as she tried to dodge a similar question during the debate with former President Donald Trump. In contrast to her surprisingly strong and coherent performance on Tuesday night, her responses throughout this interview were laced with the “word salads” we’ve grown so accustomed to hearing from Harris.
Describing her answer in a post on X, The National Review’s Noah Rothman wrote, “It takes some species of talent to filibuster for 90 straight seconds while saying nothing [at] all of value.”
Next, Taff referenced her focus “on turning the page on the past” and the campaign slogan, “a new way forward.”
“Some people have a question,” he said, “given your role as current Vice President of the United States, how different you are from Joe Biden. I wonder if there are one or two spots, policy areas or approaches where you would say, ‘I’m a different person.'”
Again, she sidestepped the question. Before launching into a discussion of “an opportunity economy” and other topics Taff did not ask her about, Harris replied, “I’m obviously not Joe Biden. I offer a new generation of leadership.”
Taff said Harris had surprised a lot of people on Tuesday night when she said she was a gun owner. He then asked her where she draws the line on gun ownership and gun use.
After ensuring that “[w]e’re not taking anybody’s guns away,” Harris provided an actual answer. She wants to implement a ban on assault weapons.
She said, “I support the Second Amendment and I support reasonable gun safety laws. … I was a career prosecutor. … I have personally looked at autopsies. I have personally seen what assault weapons do to the human body. And so, I feel very strongly that it is consistent with the Second Amendment and your right to own a gun to also say, ‘We need an assault weapons ban.’ They’re literally tools of war. They were literally designed to kill a lot of human beings quickly. … ”
Next, Taff asked Harris what she understand’s Trump’s “appeal to be and how do you speak to his voters or maybe to people who share his values, but are open to something else.”
“I, based on experience, and a lived experience, know in my heart, I know in my soul, I know, that the vast majority of us as Americans have so much more in common than what separates us,” she replied, repeating a platitude we’ve heard for the umpteenth time.
Then she rattled off a list of Republicans who support her, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, and took a few shots at Trump.
Harris rambled and dodged her way through a softball interview that lasted for ten excruciating minutes. In the end, it only served to remind us why her campaign is so reluctant to put her into unscripted situations.
After holing up in a hotel room for five days, committing talking points to memory and even practicing her entrance onto the debate stage and her handshake with Trump, she had managed to shine for 90 minutes.
But, within the first 60 seconds of this interview, it was clear that Tuesday night had been an anomaly. Her answers consisted of snippets of the lines she had memorized for the debate in between the word salads she’s become so famous for.
Fox News host Jesse Watters summed up the event perfectly: “Kamala Harris bombed her first solo interview.”
I’ll leave you with this. At a Johnstown bookstore on Friday, Harris was asked how she felt about her chances in the state, Harris replied, “I am feeling very good about Pennsylvania because there are a lot of people in Pennsylvania who deserve to be seen and heard.”
Yes, it was a mess.
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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