Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are scheduled to appear in their first joint interview with CNN, marking a significant moment in their presidential campaign. The interview, scheduled for Thursday evening, will be conducted by CNN’s Dana Bash during a campaign bus tour through Georgia, a key battleground state in the upcoming election.
This interview will be the first time Harris faces an in-depth, on-the-record conversation since she officially became the Democratic presidential nominee following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race. Harris has been under increasing pressure to engage with the press and address critical issues, especially given her new role at the top of the Democratic ticket.
The Trump campaign has been vocal in its criticism of Harris’s media strategy, arguing that she has avoided tough questions and failed to provide clarity on her policy positions.
“Since it’s all the American people can get, we will expect that CNN holds them accountable for their past failures and the constant disavowal of years of dangerously liberal policies they’ve supported right up until their pollsters took over a month ago,” said Brian Hughes, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign.
Republicans, including Trump and his running mate Senator JD Vance, have consistently criticized Harris’s limited media appearances, suggesting that she is reluctant to engage with the press out of concern for potential missteps. Trump, in a recent press conference, stated that Harris “can’t do an interview” because she is “barely competent.”
While the Harris-Walz ticket has avoided some of the public gaffes that have occasionally plagued the Republican campaign, the Trump team insists that Harris’s approach of limiting media exposure does not serve the interests of the American public. Vance has pointed out that both he and Trump have been willing to face “hostile questions” from the press, contrasting their approach with Harris’s more cautious media strategy.
With input from the Washington Post, BBC and Aljazeera.
