Kamala Harris should have been ‘pushed harder’ on Biden’s mental fitness during interview: WaPo columnists

A group of Washington Post columnists suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris should have been “pushed harder” on President Biden’s mental fitness during a discussion about her first sit-down interview with CNN. 

“Couldn’t Bash, though, have pushed a bit harder on what Harris knew about Biden’s fitness for office and how she viewed his decline over time?” Washington Post media columnist Erik Wemple asked the group of colleagues, which included Perry Bacon and David Von Drehle. 

CNN’s Dana Bash sat down with Harris and Gov. Tim Walz for the pair’s first interview since emerging as the Democratic ticket after Biden dropped out of the race. 

“Yes. I think there was only one question about Biden’s fitness versus, by my count, four questions on fracking,” Bacon responded. 

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Wemple also asked about what people should expect from the Harris-Walz campaign after the interview. 

“I think Harris and Walz got the news media off their backs. They ended a narrative (she won’t take questions) that implied she was afraid or wasn’t smart enough to do that,” Bacon said. “I expect (unfortunately) very little engagement with the media from here on out from the Harris campaign.”

Bacon also pointed to a Democratic shift away from the mainstream media. 

“Its strategy is that interviews take them off message. I thought the no-interviews strategy was because of Biden (who is aging and struggles to answer questions). Now, I think this is a new, anti-mainstream media approach from Democrats,” he said. 

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Drehle said Harris got off to a bad start during the interview.

“I think Harris got off to a very weak start, unable to answer a pretty obvious question clearly. (What would you do on Day 1?) But both she and Walz got better,” he said. 

“Well, there are a number of things I will tell you. First and foremost, one of my highest priorities is to do what we can to support and strengthen the middle class,” Harris said during the interview with Bash, before quickly taking aim at Trump. 

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“So, what would you do? Day one?” Bash pressed again. To which Harris said, it’s going to be about one implementing my plan for what I call an opportunity economy.”

“I’ve already laid out a number of proposals in that regard, which include what we’re going to do to bring down the cost of everyday goods, what we’re going to do to invest in America’s small businesses, what we’re going to do to invest in families,” Harris said.