A New York Times report Thursday acknowledged that televised interviews are a major “weakness” for Vice President Kamala Harris.
in one piece Topic Times national politics reporter Rebecca Davis O’Brien credited Harris with her debating and campaigning skills, saying, “Harris has a lot of strengths. Giving interviews is not one of them.”
However, he further wrote that “one-on-one television interviews with journalists have long been a weakness in her political arsenal. She often moves slowly toward answers, relying on rehearsed jargon and phrases, “Uses language that is sometimes derided as ‘word salad,’ but might be better described as meringue.”
When it comes to unscripted media appearances, Harris has an uneven history, which she has largely avoided Since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about migrants heading to the US at a press conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei during her visit to Guatemala City, Guatemala, on June 7, 2021. Reuters/Carlos Barria (Reuters/Carlos Barria)
O’Brien said this was a “calculation by his campaign” to protect him from “the risks of the prime-time spotlight”.
He described “a nervousness that is evident from the moment Ms. Harris takes her seat opposite an interviewer, as if she is preparing for a hostile cross-examination – on the witness stand.”
O’Brien pointed to Harris’s time as a prosecutor and as a Senate Judiciary Committee criminologist, arguing that while those experiences “prepared her to ask tough questions in high-stakes exchanges ;he had less experience on the other side of the microphone.”
He then cited Dan Moren, a California-based journalist who covered Harris’s career and wrote a biography about her in 2020.
“She can be very charming, very sharp; she’s funny, makes very good eye contact,” Moren said. “She was well briefed. She knew the issues. She was very good at answering questions, and very personable.” Not answering questions.”
He also noted that Harris did not “go out of her way” to talk to the press, and assuming this would not change, he asked, “Why would she take that risk?”
HOUSTON, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 08: Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the National Baptist Convention on September 08, 2022 in Houston, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
O’Brien recalls Harris’ “clumsy” interview with NBC anchor Lester Holt about the southern border in 2021 Later he had to avoid interviews,
The writer for The Times said, “These days, when Ms. Harris gives an interview, she delivers well-rehearsed platitudes, sometimes swimming in a sea of excessive verbiage.” “Her first answer is often the most unsettling, a discursive journey to get to the point. Like all politicians, she sometimes answers the question she prefers to address, not the one that They were actually asked to – but not always artistically.”
He further said that Harris “clouds clear ideas with words or phrases that have no precise meaning,” recalling an instance where the vice president “used the word ‘whole’ three times in place of a long sentence.” Used” asked about creating more affordable housing.
“She relies on the rhetorical touchstone,” O’Brien says, listing some examples, “in many ways.” ‘Let’s clarify.’ And when asked specifically about her economic agenda, she starts with a familiar refrain: ‘I grew up in a middle class family,
The reporter further said that prosecutors are trained to have an approach to interrogation that is completely different from that of politicians.
“Prosecutors are not expected to speak regularly like a mayor or an elected political representative – let alone negotiate.” with the press, “And they are bound by law about what they can and cannot share with journalists,” O’Brien wrote. , Power dynamics also vary: reporters are eager for details about a case and prosecutors, who may have secrets and cards, may be more eager to get their hands on them.”
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In 2023, Sunny Hostin also co-hosted “The View” Harris’s word salad defended Being a product of his legal training.
“I would like to add that as a lawyer, when you’re speaking you’re usually told that you speak in threes, because that’s what people remember,” Hostin said. “So if you’re going to talk about cars, you’ll talk about cars, red cars, fast red cars.”
