Kasie hunt questions effectiveness of Harris’ planned ‘softball interview’

CNN host Kasie Hunt expressed skepticism regarding the effectiveness of a “softball interview” in alleviating the growing pressure on Vice President Kamala Harris to engage with the media. Harris, who has not participated in a press conference or formal interview for 37 days, has indicated her intention to schedule an interview before the end of August. Despite this, Hunt believes that merely opting for a soft interview will not resolve the media scrutiny surrounding Harris.

“I don’t think that doing softball interviews is going to put this to rest,” Hunt said. “But I think the decision that I’m looking for from the Harris team is who are they choosing to sit down with? And is that going to be something where you come away feeling like she took the hard questions or if this snowball continues?”

During the discussion, Democratic strategist Ameisha Cross and Republican strategist Brad Todd debated Harris’ media avoidance. Cross argued that Harris, having only recently clinched the Democratic nomination on August 5, has been focused on engaging with voters rather than prioritizing press appearances. “This is a very historic campaign, a very truncated campaign, but the pressure for her was to actually get out and talk to the voters,” Cross said.

Conversely, Todd criticized Harris for not addressing key issues from her record. “She doesn’t want to answer for the fact that she was against fracking, against private insurance, against gasoline cars,” Todd stated. He suggested Harris should have been available for interviews earlier in her vice presidency.

CNN political analyst Alex Thompson noted that Harris’ performance in live interviews has been challenging, contributing to the current media dynamics. CNN’s Mark Preston agreed that while Harris might delay media engagement, she will eventually face tougher questions.

Requests for comments were not answered by Harris’s campaign. The discussion highlights the continuous conflict in Harris’ approach to media involvement between campaign strategy and public accountability.