CNN Guest Says Harris Avoiding Interviews ‘Raised The Stakes’ For Debate

Axios reporter Alex Thompson said Monday that Kamala Harris’ strategy of avoiding interviews significantly raises the stakes for Tuesday night’s debate.

Aside from an Aug. 29 interview with CNN host Dana Bash alongside Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Harris has not granted a sit-down interview or press conference since President Joe Biden announced he was ending his reelection bid July 21. Thompson said that Harris, who was uncomfortable in unscripted settings, may have “raised the stakes” for Tuesday’s debate with former President Donald Trump.

“Let’s remember that some of her worst moments as vice president were in some of these unscripted interview moments. She is not usually as comfortable in those settings,” Thompson told “CNN News Central” host Brianna Keilar. “At the same time, by not doing interviews — she still has not done one solo interview — by not doing interviews, she’s raised the stakes for every unscripted moment that she has. That’s why tomorrow night’s debate has really become this really pivotal moment for her because the fact is that a lot of Americans, as many as 30%, say that they don’t know enough about her yet. And so this, for many voters, especially those critical voters in those swing states, this is going to be their first impression of her. So it’s a really, you know, it’s a moment that’s really pivotal for her campaign.”

WATCH

CNN Guest Says Harris Avoiding Interviews 'Raised The Stakes' For Debate pic.twitter.com/GmfiA1Vq8F

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 9, 2024

Harris currently leads Trump by 1.2% in the RealClearPolling average of polls from Aug. 22 to Sept. 6. Her lead grows to 1.9% when Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein, Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver and independent candidate Cornel West are included in surveys.

Thompson also noted apparent policy changes by Harris from left-wing positions she held during her campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination for president, most of which had been hinted at by campaign aides rather than by the vice president.

“Like every good politician that moves to the center during a general election, she’s going to try to sort of thread the needle here and basically say, ‘Listen, I’ve been vice president for four years. Some of my opinions have changed as I’ve been in proximity to the Oval Office and have been in proximity to power. Also, circumstances have changed,’” Thompson told Keilar. “But also, the fact of the matter is that all these changes have all gone in one direction for the most part, and they’ve all gone from the left to the center, which suggests that it’s not just about her changing views, but it is also a politically motivated action.”

Thompson suggested that Harris may not be doing interviews because she had cobbled together a campaign staff after Biden’s withdrawal, citing an effort to get answers on a proposed electric vehicle mandate.

“I asked her campaign, you know, would she sign a bill she co-sponsored in 2019 that basically mandated automakers to only make electric vehicles by 2035, 2040, and it took six days for me to get an answer, and the answer at the end of those six days was, ‘No comment,’” Thompson said, “And this is sort of an aspect of what some people in the Democratic Party have told me, it’s like the Frankenstein campaign, is that, you know, by virtue of unprecedented circumstances, of her getting into this race so late, you have this situation in which, you know, it’s part Obama staffers, it’s part Biden’s staffers, and it’s part her team, and it‘s really sometimes unclear who’s in charge and also a lot of those people don‘t have extensive knowledge of the candidate they’re now working for.”

Republished with permission from The Daily Caller News Foundation.