Again, this is why Kamala Harris doesn’t do interviews: she’s braindead. The woman did a livestream event with Oprah Winfrey, which should have been a cakewalk. It ended up being a word salad extravaganza and a painful one. Winfrey exhibited body language that didn’t display confidence in the vice president. I don’t think the cultural icon knew what Harris was talking about half the time. Harris’ interview with the National Association of Black Journalists this week caught all three journalists giving expressions that weren't positive.
It wasn’t a combative interview, not nearly as intense as the one Donald Trump did. Still, Harris refused to go off-script, and it didn’t sit well with these reporters, especially when it came to Gaza and Israel’s justified invasion of the region after the October 7 attacks (via Politico):
Kamala Harris largely stuck to her script during an interview Tuesday with a panel of National Association of Black Journalists members, carefully parrying questions about hot-button issues like the war in Gaza, reparations and other critical election topics.
It was the vice president’s second high-profile national media interview since announcing her presidential run, and though she spoke passionately at times about abortion rights and other policies, she did not break much ground or stray far from her talking points during the near hour-long conversation.
[…]
The panel of NABJ members who moderated the interview were POLITICO Playbook co-author Eugene Daniels, Fresh Air co-host Tonya Mosley and theGrio White House Correspondent Gerren Keith Gaynor.
NBC News wrote about the testier parts of this sit-down:
Reporters Tonya Mosley of NPR, Gerren Keith Gaynor of TheGrio and Eugene Daniels of Politico repeatedly pressed Harris for direct answers on other topics, interrupting her multiple times when she veered away from the subject or rambled. She dodged a potentially contentious moment when Mosley stopped her during an answer about gun control by laughing through the moment.
The audience of about 150, including 100 college students, began to signal discomfort when Harris avoided answering a question about whether she would issue an executive order to create a commission to study reparations. Ultimately, she said, it would come down to Congress, an answer that seemed to deflate some of the attendees.
Some members of the audience also signaled displeasure when she gave an indirect answer about whether she would continue the Biden administration’s approach to the Israel-Hamas war.
I keep telling yall about Kamala! Now look for yourselves.
— Vernon Jones (@VernonForGA) September 19, 2024
Kamala at the end of her interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). She couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Kamala left frowning (She’s a mean woman).
I swear they were limited in their… pic.twitter.com/VbLEvUb8dh
Okay I missed this when it happened. 1) Look how fast Harris bolts the stage and 2) look at the moderators faces after she leaves. Just watch the whole interaction: pic.twitter.com/tOi26L6yf4
— Brittany (@bccover) September 19, 2024
Harris quickly exits but looks when the camera pans to Graynor, Mosley, and Daniels. They’re not impressed, and it’s almost a silent admission that this woman doesn’t have the goods. But I can’t speak for them. The body language doesn’t display confidence in her, either. The only thing Kamala has going for her is that the race is tight because her name isn’t Joe Biden—that’s about it, though. She can’t pull away and remains in polling territory where the underestimated Trump vote will overtake her. Biden was ahead of Trump by nearly double digits at this point in the 2020 race. Harris is within the margin of error. It’s not enough, and Democrats know it.