Vice President Kamala Harris continued her October media blitz on Tuesday, sitting down for a friendly chat with the ladies of The View. CNN media expert Brian Stelter predicted the female co-hosts would ask "sharp questions." They did not, obviously, but the softball nature of the interview did not stop Harris from providing a flawless soundbite for a future Donald Trump campaign ad.
Having spent the last several months promising "a new way forward" while pretending the Biden-Harris administration was not currently in power, Harris failed to identify a single thing she would have done differently compared to President Joe Biden. "There is not a thing that comes to mind," she said. "And I've been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact." That was Harris's second attempt at a response to co-host Sunny Hostin, who asked what the "biggest specific difference" would be between a Biden presidency and a Harris presidency. Her initial answer was an inscrutable word salad about small businesses.
"Well, [Biden and I are] obviously two different people, and we have a lot of shared life experiences. For example, the way we feel about family and our parents and so on, but we're also different people, and I will bring those sensibilities to how I lead," Harris said. "I love our small businesses. My mother raised my sister and me predominantly, but we had what we called a second mother who lived two houses down who helped my mother raise us. She was a small business owner. I love our small businesses. And, um, and so the influence of a personal experience will have its impact on a presidency."
Later on in the interview, Harris offered a third response. "You ask me what's the biggest difference between Biden and me? I'm going to have a Republican in my cabinet," she said. Given the vice president's limited ability to speak without a script, perhaps the "biggest difference" question could be considered a "sharp" one. The other questions? Not so much.
"I personally cannot understand why anyone would vote for [Trump]," said Joy Behar, 82. "A lot of it is, I think, is getting bad information—people are getting bad information from other channels. But do you have an explanation for this at all?" Harris proceeded to explain why Trump is bad. This elicited a series of cackles, affirmative grunts, and cheers from the audience, which pretty much sums up how the interview went. "If, no, when you become president will you come back on The View?" Ana Navarro asked. (Of course she would.)
The co-hosts requested and received an extended explanation of what Harris was doing when Biden called her to tell her he was dropping out of the race. "I needed to talk to God," she said. Harris was referring to her chat with longtime pastor Amos Brown, who in 2001 implied the United States brought the 9/11 terrorist attacks on itself by, among other things, declining to participate in a United Nations conference on racism.
Politico previewed Harris's appearance on The View by noting it would be aimed at the "sandwich generation" of middle-aged Americans struggling to support young children as well as aging parents. Hostin used this exact phrasing while prompting Harris to discuss her new policy proposal for a new taxpayer-funded health care benefit. It was almost as if the Harris campaign had scripted the entire exchange.
Whoopi Goldberg signed on behalf of her fellow co-hosts and Harris supporters, telling the vice president: "We're honored and proud to have you at this table."