Vice President Kamala Harris is facing heavy criticism for bringing her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, for her first official interview since President Biden withdrew his re-election bid last month. A critic of the network that will broadcast the coveted interview called it a “weak move” that showed a “lack of confidence.”
Harris, 59, is scheduled to appear alongside her No. 2 in the “joint interview” that will air on CNN at 9 p.m. Thursday.
Republican and conservative commentators said the Californian was using Walz as a crutch to avoid expected questions about her record while she was just a stone’s throw away from the presidency.
“I think it’s incredibly weak to show up with your running mate,” CNN commentator Scott Jennings, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, said on air late Tuesday, adding that Harris had a “troubling lack of confidence in her political abilities.”
“As a voter, you ask yourself, ‘What kind of president would you be?'” Jennings continued. “I think Republicans will think it’s pretty weak to run someone who only takes half the time.”
Others pointed to Harris’s history of faux pas and word salads as a reason why her allies could not trust her to go it alone.
“LOL, a joint interview. She just can’t be left unattended,” National Review writer Jeff Blehar posted on X, later adding, “At this point, I expect Harris will demand the ability to call a friend at the Sept. 10 debate.”
Another wrote: “The Democrats are so afraid of letting Harris out of the basement without adult supervision that they’re sending Walz to her first interview as a candidate to keep an eye on things. Unbelievable.”
“Kamala Harris bringing Walz to her first interview is like young candidates bringing their parents to their first interview,” said author Carol Roth. “I wouldn’t hire either of them.”
Harris, who represented California in the U.S. Senate before becoming vice president, has a long history of, at best, embarrassing moments on camera.
In a particularly embarrassing interview with Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News in June 2021, Harris defended her decision not to visit the U.S.-Mexico border – even as illegal immigration reached new highs – by saying, “And I haven’t been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
The interview between Harris and Walz will be the first time she has answered the phone since Biden abandoned his re-election campaign on July 21 and endorsed her as his successor.
The interview is conducted in Savannah, Georgia, by moderator Dana Bash.
