Harris Criticized for Bringing Walz to Big Interview

After weeks of criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for not granting interviews or holding press conferences, Republicans are now criticizing the Democratic nominee for not granting a solo interview. A joint interview with Harris and running mate Tim Walz will air on CNN at 9pm Eastern on Thursday. After the interview was announced on Tuesday, CNN commentator Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist, said it was "weak sauce for Kamala Harris to demand an emotional support animal for her first interview." In a post on X, he said it "shows an extreme lack of confidence for Thursday night."

Another critic, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said Wednesday the Harris campaign decided she needed a "babysitter" because she "can't get through an interview all by herself." Other commentators pointed out that it is traditional for nominees to hold joint press conferences with their running mates soon after party conventions, Raw Story reports.

• "Presidential candidates do interviews with their running mates. Like, for always," conservative commentator SE Cupp said in a post on X, adding that to suggest Harris needs Walz there "as some kind of crutch is pretty much the epitome of sexism."
• Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said that for at least 20 years "every ticket, Republican and Democrat, sat for a joint interview," the Hill reports. She said the only exception was when Trump "walked out of his joint interview four years ago with 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl."
• Trump has, however, granted plenty of solo interviews, while Harris has "limited most of her engagement with the press to scripted and highly-controlled environments" since President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her, the BBC notes. With Walz present, difficult questions on policy "will at least be shared between the two of them."
• Trump supporters have also criticized the choice of CNN as the network and Dana Bash as the interviewer, saying both are too friendly to Democrats, the Guardian reports. The interview will be recorded in Georgia, where Harris and Walz are on a two-day bus tour.

(More Kamala Harris 2024 stories.)