Tonight was the first interview with Kamala Harris since she became the Democrat candidate for President, more than a month into her campaign. It was conducted by Dana Bash of CNN at some cafe somewhere.
This was brilliant in one respect, she has avoided live interviews for so long that this has been widely anticipated, building an audience for what became essentially a campaign commercial. Because of this, the interview was net win for Harris, she can claim that she answered the tough questions from the evil Dana Bash, even though she had to practice for a week, and even though she did not really answer the questions.
Did she look Presidential? In my opinion, not even close. She was small, fidgety and evasive. But then again, people on the fence might be looking to verify the critiques of the Republicans. Bash allowed her flaws, lies and shortcomings to pass by quietly, to the point where they might be perceived as no big deal.
Kamala insisted on not owning her record, you can call this “gaslighting” or “doublethink” (from Orwell’s 1984) if you like. I would love to have recorded this and counted the misdirections and direct lies. Policies that she was passionate about in 2020 have been replaced by their opposites.
Based on this interview, of these things I am certain:
— Kamala Harris was provided the questions beforehand. This was as much scripted as much as her campaign speeches.
— CNN was complicit in making this a love fest/campaign commercial, the intent was to bolster Kamala, not challenge her. Dana Bash was embarrassingly softball in her approach, weak on the follow-ups and too accepting of answers. It was edited. Anything that might make Kamala look bad was edited out.
— Many of Kamala’s views as expressed are not her own. Some of her stated policies were forced down her throat as a condition of bypassing competition and selecting her as the candidate. She just could not authentically back up the views she expressed.
— Kamala said over and over that her values have not changed, even when confronted with direct and obvious flip flops. She has been coached by experts and, together with the softball nature of the show (and yes, it was a “show”), any controversial responses were designed to be overlooked and consistent with her past, at least on the surface.
Bash first provided Kamala with the opportunity to say what she would do on her “first day.” After some dancing and evasion she listed some of the basic vague promises she has said before, emphasizing the “opportunity economy.”
She mentioned “pricing gouging” (pronouncing it correctly this time) which alluded to her tragic idea of price controls, and the $25,000 for new housing purchases, which would do exactly the opposite of her claim that it will bring down the housing prices. Does she not know any economists at all?
When asked if Bidenomics was a success, she refused to say yes, evaded the question, blamed Trump for the economy (despite her being in office for almost four years), and proceeded to talk about the great things that had been accomplished. She cited a great number of conditions that indicated the economy is crap, expecting the audience to agree that their lives are better. Doublethink.
When Bash asked why she had not implemented the policies she was advocating, Kamala danced and danced and blamed Trump. And of course, she took credit for $35 insulin and the right of Medicare to negotiate, both Trump accomplishments.
Bash asked about banning fracking, Kamala said she absolutely would not, even though 4 years ago she had said emphatically that she would. Flip flop
When asked about illegal immigration, Kamala danced and danced, and finally blamed Trump for not passing the immigration bill that she claimed would have solved the problem (but would in reality do the opposite). She said she was not in favor of decriminalizing illegal border crossing, but four years ago she was absolutely in favor of decriminalizing illegal border crossings. Flip flop.
When asked about the Israel-Hamas war, she claimed undying commitment to Israel’s defense – but wants Palestinian self-determination, and wants to get a “deal” done to get the hostages out (what happened to Israel’s defense?). But she was critical of Israel right up until she became the Democrat candidate for President. We don’t really know what she wants, but we feel good about calling this a flip flop.
The worst insult to the audience was when Tim Walz was challenged with his “carrying weapons into war” comment, his claim of “IVF” and his lying about his 1995 arrest. He answered for none of this, did not admit to any lies, he merely complained about the Trump campaign. This man is scum. I have the radical and unsupported conspiracy that he was forced upon her by Biden, who is still under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party (through Hunter…), meaning Walz is a Chinese intelligence asset. Scared?
Overall, from a conservative standpoint, this was hard to watch, I was clearly looking at a propaganda piece for a not-very-intelligent presidential candidate.
But this was not aimed at a well-informed conservative, this was aimed at the “drive-by” voter who is looking for confirmation or denial of Kamala Harris’ legitimacy. Based on this, the interview could be considered a win for Kamala.