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Kamala Harris enjoys another softball interview at MSNBC

She somehow survived. Credit: MSNBC

September 26, 2024 - 2:00am

“It was a normal interview,” Stephanie Ruhle insisted on Wednesday, having just demanded Kamala Harris confirm — on the record — she once worked at McDonald’s. It’s hard to argue the point.

Ruhle’s self-assessment came during an after-interview debrief with Chris Hayes, who congratulated his colleague on a “refreshingly substantive” discussion with the Vice President. Ruhle, selfless sentinel of Park Avenue, pierced straight to the heart of Harris’s bid with questions like, “For those who say ‘These policies aren’t for me,’ what do you say to them?” and “[Trump] said he will be the protector of women if elected, can you respond to that?”

To be sure, Ruhle tossed in some heat with references to the “tremendous economic wins” under Joe Biden and Harris. She agreed with Harris mid-interview on tariffs, affirming that Trump’s “plan is not serious when you lay it out like that.” Referencing poll results that show voters “still” trust Trump more on the economy, the MSNBC host wondered, “Why do you think that is?”

Harris is on track to give the media very few interviews throughout the course of her historically short campaign. It’s no coincidence the veep chose to sit down with Ruhle of all people just days after the MSNBC host made an explicit and impassioned case for Harris on “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

This is the strategy, and it’s honestly brilliant: why rock the boat by disrupting the wave of positive press and positive vibes it’s floating on? Interviews with media figures like Ruhle give the illusion of transparency without risking much. Sure, Ruhle — senior business analyst at NBC News — asked about some legitimately substantive topics like communities who feel they’re at “capacity” amid the immigration surge, why unions don’t seem to connect with Harris like Trump, and how Harris plans to “balance” hiking corporate tax rates without sending business out of the country. Her exchange on trade wasn’t awful, and she brought up the issue of “red tape” increasing housing costs in places like the suburbs of Pittsburgh.

But that was it. And while the topics may have been tough, the questions were softballs and the follow-ups were often non-existent. Even so, Harris missed some easy pitches, falling back into her old habits of pausing awkwardly and stumbling into nonsense.

“Can we trust you?” Ruhle asked Harris to end the chat. That question might have been better redirected at the interviewer. Unlike David Muir, Ruhle doesn’t exactly pretend to be Walter Cronkite. But if she and her colleagues want to wear the hat and waste the precious little time Harris gives journalists with gentle prodding and agreement — all while lamenting the decline of democratic norms and patting each other on the back — they should consider that might be why trust in media is at a historic low.


Emily Jashinsky is UnHerd‘s Washington D.C. Correspondent.

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Josef Švejk
Josef Švejk
9 days ago

Kamala Harris is very lightweight intellectually and has a bizarre outlook on the lives of the average American. Only she and Hillary Clinton could be beaten by Donald Trump in a US Presidential Election.

T Bone
T Bone
9 days ago
Reply to  Josef Švejk

Disagree. Trump goes against the Washington Consensus on foreign policy. Anyone who rocks that boat is an extreme underdog. The Media doesn’t really care what your domestic policies are but their foreign policy agenda is fixed. If you go against it they will cover your opponent favorably and you unfairly.

Andrew Dalton
Andrew Dalton
9 days ago
Reply to  T Bone

That was quite apparent when Trump launched that missile strike on Syria; all of a sudden, the media had good things to say about him.

Martin M
Martin M
9 days ago
Reply to  Josef Švejk

It remains to be seen whether Harris loses to Trump, but I agree that Hillary was the only candidate that could have lost to Trump in 2016.

Right-Wing Hippie
Right-Wing Hippie
9 days ago

“Which would you say is your bigger weakness: your generosity or your down-to-earth-ness?”

Andrew Dalton
Andrew Dalton
9 days ago

Oh God. That reads like bad fan-fiction where the Mary Sue self-insert’s only flaw is “being too perfect.”

Martin M
Martin M
8 days ago
Reply to  Andrew Dalton

Perhaps an interviewer could ask Trump “When did you stop beating your wife?”

Cho Jinn
Cho Jinn
9 days ago

It was also pre-recorded. Leftists must be proud!

Martin M
Martin M
9 days ago
Reply to  Cho Jinn

OMG! Some TV isn’t live nowadays?

Graham Stull
Graham Stull
9 days ago
Reply to  Martin M

Americans want their commander-in-chief to be able to think and respond to hostile environments in real time.

Martin M
Martin M
8 days ago
Reply to  Graham Stull

And they want him (or her) to be on live TV while they are doing it?

David Giles
David Giles
8 days ago
Reply to  Martin M

Well, it would certainly make for a more testing interview. And I would imagine seeing your would-be commander-in- chief tested in some way would be regarded as a good idea.

Sisyphus Jones
Sisyphus Jones
8 days ago
Reply to  Martin M

If there were a private messaging function, someone could explain to you how video editing works.

Bret Larson
Bret Larson
9 days ago

This is how democracy dies.

Martin M
Martin M
9 days ago
Reply to  Bret Larson

Yes, it dies because a candidate got interviewed by MSNBC, not because another candidate once sent his Brownshirts to trash Congress.

Terry M
Terry M
9 days ago
Reply to  Martin M

Peacefully and patriotically

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
9 days ago
Reply to  Martin M

It dies because one political party can enlist the support of the FBI, the CIA, the DOJ, big tech, the regime media – and virtually all the institutions – to cover up its scandals and lie in its behalf.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
9 days ago

The regime media continues to debase itself and shovel dirt while digging its grave.

j watson
j watson
9 days ago

So why is Trump ducking a second debate? If she’s getting an easy ride shouldn’t he seize the opportunity?
Oh wait a minute who unravels when matched up?

Terry M
Terry M
9 days ago
Reply to  j watson

Trump and the pollsters realize that even these softball interviews (Oprah!) are revealing Kamala to be an airhead.
Sun Tzu: “Never interrupt your opponent while (s)he is in the middle of making a mistake.”
Another debate would generate another tongue-bath for Kamala from the sycophantic MSM. Why give them the chance?

Philip Hanna
Philip Hanna
9 days ago
Reply to  Terry M

I agree with this. Everyone in the media think this Kamala honeymoon is going to just carry on until the election and she will win. They are in for a rude awakening. The majority aren’t as dumb as many people think.

Jim Veenbaas
Jim Veenbaas
9 days ago
Reply to  j watson

Trump sucks at debating, but why on God’s green earth would he agree to a second debate after that crap show on ABC? The only network he can trust is Fox and she would never agree to that.

Terry M
Terry M
9 days ago

The MSM is merely a propagand arm of the DNC.
What they don’t realize is that many people are beginning to see through their smoke and mirrors. Unfortunately, too few.

Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke
7 days ago

Senior people in the US MSM couldn’t care less about the loss of trust in their trade as many of them will hope to get jobs from the administration under a Harris Presidency. She will owe them a lot.