Vice President Kamala Harris will finally sit down for an interview on Thursday. It's with a friendly journalist (Dana Bash) on a friendly network (CNN), it's pre-taped, and her running mate Tim Walz is tagging along for moral support and male supervision.
It's been almost 40 days since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris. She has refused to hold a press conference or take part in an interview until now, and there's no telling when she might agree to be interviewed alone. It's unlikely to happen before the debate on Sept. 10, and it might not happen until after the election.
Mainstream journalists have generally applauded Harris's decision to avoid answering questions or speaking without a teleprompter. They know she is prone to spout gibberish that makes her sound like a seventh grader who decided to improvise an oral report, and they don't want her to look bad because they want her to win. History suggests that if Harris were to hold a press conference or take part in a legitimate one-on-one interview, many voters would question her competence and fitness to lead.
There was the time in 2021 when Harris claimed to have "been to the border" after she was put in charge of illegal immigration. When NBC's Lester Holt pointed out this wasn't true, Harris huffed, "And I haven't been to Europe." (Harris had initially offered to take charge of U.S. relations with the Nordic countries, a suggestion widely mocked within the Biden administration.)
Earlier this month, Harris botched her response to one of the easiest questions imaginable: How did she feel about the return of American citizens imprisoned in Russia? Harris showed up on the tarmac because she wanted to take credit for the prisoner exchange, but was apparently unprepared for this softball.
"This is an extraordinary day, and, um, I'm very thankful for our president and what he has done," Harris said. "This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy and strengthening alliances."
It's enough to make us long for the formidable eloquence of President Biden, 81, sometimes referred to as "Sleepy Joe."