SiriusXM's Megyn Kelly said Friday that CNN host Dana Bash “didn't have the guts” to press Vice President Kamala Harris or running mate Tim Walz about the policy shift in their first joint interview.
CNN released the roughly 30-minute interview Thursday in which Harris and Waltz answer Bash's questions about the campaign. While Kelly acknowledged that Bash is a “real journalist,” he argued that the CNN host didn't “push” Harris because he knew the vice president “couldn't stand it.”
“Sorry, Dana Bash. I'm disappointed. I actually like Dana. It's hard to dislike her. She's a good person and a real journalist, honestly. I really am. She's not like other journalists, but she screwed up at her job last night. There's no question about it,” Kelly said.
“My whole takeaway is that this is what happens when you have a meek reporter interviewing a meek person. That's what we saw. I don't want to offend her personally, but that's what I saw. She didn't have the guts to really go after Kamala Harris, and I think that's because she knew Kamala Harris couldn't stand it,” Kelly continued. “So she played it very softly, and as a result, we never really pressed Kamala Harris for answers and we never saw her put in an uncomfortable position. That's your job.”
Kelly continued to slam Bash, saying that as the only person to have interviewed a candidate for the next US presidency, he had “let his profession and his country down.” (Related article: Harris unable to explain change of attitude, says she has no regrets about Biden in first interview)
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“As a journalist, you're uniquely positioned to interview the person who could potentially be the next president of the United States, and you go easy on him? You've let us down! You've let the industry down, you've let the country down, and of course that's why she was elected. Kamala Harris knew very well that she couldn't stand a tough interviewer, and her team knew that she couldn't stand a tough interviewer,” Kelly said.
Kelly continued to question Bash's choice to interview the two political leaders, adding that fellow CNN host Jake Tapper “may have felt a greater obligation” to the pair.
“While there were a few moments where Ms. Harris pressed for answers to questions, there was so much more that could and should have been done that left us feeling completely empty, which is my overall take on the interview: empty calories,” Kelly continued. “CNN promised the interview would 'give Ms. Harris her first opportunity to clarify where she stands on a range of domestic and international issues,' and that's exactly what happened.”
After the Democratic National Convention, the Harris campaign faced questions about why Vice President Harris had not given individual interviews with reporters since becoming the party's presidential nominee. In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas also criticized Harris for not personally renouncing the far-left policies she supported during the 2020 campaign, noting that only aides had spoken out in the media.
In her interview with Bash, Harris did not provide details on why she reversed various policy stances, including banning fracking and enforcement at the southern U.S. border. Despite criticism from the media, Harris has yet to release an official platform for the campaign. Website As of Friday.
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