When Kamala Harris first launched her presidential campaign after undercutting Joe Biden, her team kept her tightly controlled, with a teleprompter shielding her. But that strategy hasn’t propelled her to the lead as anticipated, prompting a shift. Now, the Harris campaign is sending her into more “unscripted” interviews with friendly media outlets.
On Tuesday, she appeared on “The View,” a seemingly foolproof environment, yet she managed to fumble. Her subsequent chat with Howard Stern—who once donned blackface and repeatedly shouted racial slurs—wasn’t much better.
Then came “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, which was supposed to be the high point. Instead, it turned into one of the most inauthentic and cringe-inducing interviews of her career. Whatever careful measures her campaign had taken to shield the real Kamala Harris, they crumbled in this appearance, filled with awkward laughs and poorly delivered jokes.
HARRIS: “Sure, well, I’m obviously not Joe Biden, and so, that would be one thing, but also, I think it’s important to say with 28 days to go, I’m not Donald Trump. And so, when we think about the significance of what this next generation of leadership looks like, were I actually to be elected president, it is about, frankly, I love the American people, and I believe in our country. I love that it is our character and nature to be an ambitious people. We have aspirations. We have dreams. We are—we have incredible work ethic, and I just believe we can create and build upon the success we’ve achieved in a way that would continue to grow opportunity and in that way grow the strength of our nation.”
Excuse me for one second…HOW IS SHE STILL NOT READY FOR THIS QUESTION?
I don’t get it. She’s been asked this question countless times, yet she still can’t come up with a solid answer or even a minor policy difference. All these softball interviews are just opportunities for her to establish herself as the “change” candidate, but she keeps blowing it.
Have her handlers not told her to ditch the “aspirations and dreams” spiel? Have they not advised her to stop rambling about the “character” of the nation? This was classic Harris, and unfortunately, it wasn’t the worst part of the interview. Believe me, it gets worse.
HARRIS: “You remember what those days were like? You remember how many people did not have tests and were trying to scramble to get them? You remember how rare it was to have one? You remember people by the hundreds were dying every day? We would watch the number every day being reported of people who were dying?”
The critique here is simple: she’s being dishonest. More people died during her administration than under Trump, despite being handed vaccines and a distribution system. So, what’s her excuse? Even more troubling, though, is her delivery. When you’re on Colbert, you’re supposed to engage with the audience, not lecture them. Harris can’t help herself—she’s so over-rehearsed and inauthentic, and it shows in every answer.
HARRIS: “Have you no empathy, man? You know, for the suffering of other people. Have you no sense of purpose?”
It’s as if she were grown in a lab. It’s not about who’s coaching her—this is who Kamala Harris is at her core: overly ambitious, cloaking herself in a facade of empathy and competence. She’s the epitome of a “dog ate my homework” politician.
HARRIS: “The American dream right now is really elusive for far too many people in terms of even trying to own a home. It’s too expensive. We don’t have enough housing. We have a housing shortage. So part of my plan is to work with the private sector, with builders and developers, to build three million more homes by the end of my first term, and to give first-time homebuyers $25,000 in down payment assistance so they can just get their foot in the door to homeownership, which is the fastest and most efficient way to build intergenerational wealth.”
These are the ways I think about how we build up our country in ways that are about supporting the middle class. I come from the middle class. I’m never going to forget where I come from.
Do people actually buy this? Apparently, some do, given the applause she received. But they shouldn’t. For one, the goal of building “three million homes” by the end of her first term would be less than the number of homes currently being built. More importantly, how does she plan to incentivize developers to build homes they otherwise wouldn’t due to profitability issues?
The real reason people can’t afford homes isn’t just a housing shortage. It’s skyrocketing interest rates, which have doubled in some cases during her administration. The best way to help people afford homes is to stop wrecking the economy and driving inflation, which has led to those rate hikes.
And giving out $25,000 to first-time buyers? That’s inflationary and a drop in the bucket compared to current mortgage costs. She’s been in office for four years—why hasn’t she worked with Joe Biden to fix this already?
Lastly, I promised more cringe, and here it is. You really have to watch this one for the full effect, but the transcript isn’t great either.
COLBERT: “One of the old saws is, ‘They just want somebody they can have a beer with.’ So, would you like to have a beer with me so I can tell people what that’s like? Okay, we asked ahead of time because I can’t just be giving a drink to the Vice President of the United States without asking. You asked for Miller High Life, you like the High Life. I’m just curious.”
HARRIS: “Okay, the last time I had beer was at a baseball game with Doug. So, okay, cheers.”
COLBERT: “So cheers. There you go.”
HARRIS: “Yep.”
COLBERT: “It’s like the beautiful city of Milwaukee.”
HARRIS: “The champagne of beers!”
This was clearly scripted. Colbert saying “I’m curious” about to ask her the last time she had a beer, but she cuts him off with the answer before he asks. Even if it were organic, it’s like she’s never interacted with a real person. And there’s still almost a month left until Election Day.
