Vice President and selected Democrat nominee Kamala Harris did not have to wait like former President and GOP nominee Donald Trump for the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) to get their technology together on Tuesday. They were right on time for this “Conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris” in Philadelphia. It is not surprising that Harris was given the JV Team of journalists to moderate this conversation. Gerren Keith Gaynor, White House correspondent and managing editor on politics for The Grio; POLITICO correspondent and MSNBC analyst Eugene Daniels; and NPR’s Tonya Mosley are not hard-hitters, and nobody would be able to pick them out of a lineup. They are all young and green, probably exactly as Harris wanted.
Advertisement
It is also par for the course that they treated the selected Democrat nominee with kid gloves. There were no combative questions out the gate. Daniels led off by thanking her for her time and acknowledging that she was busy. ABC’s Rachel Scott could have used some etiquette lessons from him.
DANIELS: We want to start with an issue that Americans across the country say is their No. 1 concern, and that is the economy. A question that has been asked of you, and everybody on the Democrat side, is whether or not voters are better off now than they were four years ago. Are they better off than they were four years ago?
Harris thanked the journalists and the NABJ for having her and gave a mini-word salad about the important work they do and how they must ensure organizations like NABJ “always have the resources and the platforms to deliver the voices that must be heard.”
What?!
No doubt this was so she could pull from her mental Rolodex of rehearsed talking points on the topic. It was as expected. Harris gave the same canned talking points she spouted at the debate. Almost verbatim.
Four years ago, when we came in during the worst unemployment since the Great Depression.
We came in during the worst public health epidemic in centuries.
We came after the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. And a lot of it due in large part to the mismanagement of the former president as it relates to COVID and, obviously January 6. And we had a lot of work to do to clean up the mess.
As of today, we’ve created over 16 million new jobs. Over 18 thousand new manufacturing jobs. We have the lowest Black unemployment rate in generations….
And on it went. Pull up the debate or any of her rally stump speeches, and you can hear the exact same points.
I do believe that I offer a new generation of leadership for our country. That is about, in particular, turning the page on an era that, sadly, has shown us attempts by some to incite fear, to create division in our country. And to do the work that is about bringing some level of optimism, and dare I say, ambition about what I know is possible in our country.
Advertisement
Harris is currently the Vice President of the United States. What part of “new” does she not understand?
The journalists led Harris into each question like a horse to water to allow her to utter her rehearsed bromides. But when Gaynor delved into the polling showing young Black men declaring they would vote for Trump because he would be better for the economy, Harris contradicted herself right, left, and sideways.
Gaynor asked, “How can your economic policies materially change their lives?”
I think it’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket. Black men are like any other voting group—you’ve gotta earn their vote. So, I’m workin’ to earn the vote. Not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black.
Noteworthy is that this is the first time in this campaign that she has qualitatively identified herself as Black. A good place to start earning their vote is to not throw them in jail for minor offenses like she did as San Francisco D.A. and CA Attorney General.
Harris rattled off her usual talking points and buzz words, but like the good social justice warrior that she is, she delved into “historic inequities” that prevent Black home ownership and the impact it has had in stemming the opportunity to build inter-generational wealth. The conversation wended into a national conversation of reparations, and Harris sputtered through her response.
WATCH:
Consider that this is a flip-flop on this topic. When Harris was first running for president in 2020, she had no smoke for a reparations plan.
Advertisement
So, who is trying to further historic inequities or erase history here? It’s not the Republicans or the Republican candidate.
The moderators switched gears to the Left’s pet topic: the Israel/Gaza War. NPR’s Moyer asked Harris, “Where do you see the line between aggression and defense and our power as Israel’s ally to do something?”
Okay, a lot to unpack with what you said, so let’s just begin with this: I absolutely believe that this war has to end and it has to end as soon as possible. And the way that will be achieved is by getting a hostage deal and cease-fire deal done. And we are working around the clock to achieve that end.
Stepping back. October 7. 1200 Israelis were slaughtered.
And on she went, defending the Palestinian message of far too many innocents being killed. It was almost like a mantra. Harris circled around, “I support the right of Israel to defend itself. I support the needs of Palestinians to have dignity, security, self-determination,” playing both ends against the middle.
Moyer, surprisingly, pushed back on this question, wanting to know the difference between defense and aggression and whether getting equanimity in the Middle East is even possible. Moyer also posed the question, does the United States even have a role in this? “Word-Salad Wanda” came out to play on this one.
WATCH:
When asked by Daniels if there was a specific policy change that Harris could enact to help this peace along, Harris simply said, “That is my position and that is my policy.”
But she has no new policy that differentiates herself from Joe Biden and has not outlined any changes to his policy. PolitiFact actually did the job of fact-checking on this.
The journalists spent an inordinate amount of time on this topic, beating it like a dead horse. Daniels then asked, “What do you say to those that say that your administration has to do more?”
We are doing the work of putting the pressure on all parties involved… right now the thing we need to get done is this hostage deal.
Advertisement
Harris also said that, “One of the positions that I am particularly proud of is our pause of the 200-pound bombs.”
I am sure the Hersh Goldberg-Polin family thanks her for that.
Mercifully, the journalists moved on to… Ohio and the bomb hoaxes which have already been fully debunked by Gov. Mike DeWine. Somehow, these journalists and Harris didn’t get the memo, or didn’t care.
The convoluted story about a “school picture day,” and kids being evacuated was way over the top. And yes, a whole community is in fear: of the Haitian migrants who are overrunning services and resources and destroying the community—not of cat and dog memes inspired by Donald Trump. But when Harris tried to put on her “tough prosecutor” hat, this is where she really went off the rails.
You really ought to understand at a very deep level how much your words have meaning.
I learned at a very early stage in my career, I learned the meaning of my words could impact whether someone was free or in prison.
Jamal Truelove and Caramad Conley would like a word. They both still hear that cackle when Harris wrongly sentenced them. Had their been real journalists on this panel, these examples would have been part of a follow-up question. Instead, Harris was free to blame Trump and accuse him of spewing lies based in “age-old tropes.” Leave it to a social-justice warrior to turn Springfield, Ohio, from a community that has been impacted by her choices as part of the Biden-Harris administration to a racial and social-justice issue that is the fault of Donald Trump.
Truly egregious.
NPR’s Moyer posed a question about the prevalence of illegal firearms connected to violent crime. Moyer noted that a supposed assault weapons ban only addresses a small part of the problem. It’s like Harris didn’t even hear that part, as she immediately dived into her rehearsed talking points about the need for an assault weapons ban. She once again claimed that she and Tim Walz were gun owners. I will believe that when I see her Firearms Safety Certificate and photo ops of her and Tampon Tim tuning up at the range. If Harris TRULY is a gun owner, she would know what laws are on the books—especially in gun control California where she has spent most of her life and career. But to serve the narrative, Harris simply repeated the same tropes that have long ago been proven patently false.
Advertisement
We’re not trying to take anyone’s guns away from them. But we do need an assault weapons ban. We need universal background checks.
Moyer gets credit for pushing back on Harris’ diatribe, and Harris did not appreciate it, saying, “Yes, I’ll get to it.” Facts: She didn’t want to be thrown off her script. Moyer once again redirected the question not to “assault weapons,” but specifically about handguns, and stated that many of those handguns are not bought lawfully. Instead of addressing that gun laws do nothing to stop criminals but instead limit lawful gun owners, Harris went down the false trope of gun show loopholes.
WATCH:
Harris went further with the social justice gobblygook about the cases she prosecuted, the mother’s hands she held, and the undiagnosed trauma that exists in communities and leads to violence. The word salad was voluminous and served up freely.
Daniels rounded out their “tough” questions with Harris’ pet cause: Reproductive Rights and claims that she will codify Roe v. Wade into federal law. Daniels asked: “Do you similarly support codifying Roe‘s restrictions?”
“We need to put the protections of Roe v. Wade back into law.” Then went on her usual diatribe about Trump abortion bans and Trump appointed justices. Harris brought in a tragic death story that recently happened in Georgia, a state that has a heartbeat law. The woman bought mifepristone in North Carolina, ingested the drug, and then when she returned to Georgia she started having complications resulting from the abortion pill. The woman was hospitalized and was scheduled to receive a D&C to remove the fetal body parts that had been left behind, but she died from infection before the procedure could be performed. But Harris is riding her reproductive rights train, conveniently claiming it was because of the abortion bans in Georgia that this poor woman did not receive access to proper “reproductive care.”
Daniels pushed on the restrictions of Roe and whether Harris supported codifying them. Harris doubled down, “We need to put back the protections of Roe v. Wade.” Notice that she refuses to talk about restrictions or the fact that Democrats support abortion past birth.
Advertisement
WATCH:
And you can’t have a Kamala Harris lovefest without the subject of “JOY.” Gaynor served up this pillow: “Why is Joy important to you to insert in this election? What do you make of Republicans using that as a way to suggest that you’re just not a serious candidate?”
Trump War Room pointed out the hypocrisy and double standard of the questions directed to Trump when he attended the NABJ in Chicago versus the questions that Kamala Harris was receiving in Philadelphia.
Harris issued a new version of canned peaches that her “Joy” is in the American people and their dreams. Yet the irony is that Harris has done her level best to destroy the American people and their dreams.
Daniels asked whether Harris spoke to former President Trump after the second attempt on his life on Sunday. Harris went to the Democrat talking points: “I called to see if he was okay, and I told him what I said before: There is no place for political violence.”
Rinse. Repeat.
Daniels then asked, “Do you have full confidence in the Secret Service?” On brand, Harris turned it into a reason to play the social justice/inequity card, and to backhand dump on Trump.
“The importance of fighting for the safety of everybody in this country.” In other words, Trump is nobody special—everyone should be treated equitably and have the protections that she enjoys—except Donald Trump, who was not as well protected as she. Notice in her litany of people without protections, Harris did not once utter the names of Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray, who were raped and murdered because in her role as Border Czar, VP Harris has allowed the country to be overrun with mostly unvetted men who commit heinous crimes and destroy communities like Springfield, Ohio.
Advertisement
I concur with the Trump War Room assessment. It’s sickening.
What questions were never addressed in this conversation? There were no questions about President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and how much Harris knew before he was removed from the top of the ticket and she replaced him. There were no questions about the botched Afghanistan withdrawal. There were no questions on how she treated Black men when she was San Francisco District Attorney and the California’s Attorney General. And despite her diatribe on racism, dignity of people, and safety, there was NOT ONE QUESTION about illegal immigration or what she planned to do about the crisis at the border.
Just like the Trump interview with NABJ, it was journalisming at its finest. Yes, give these people more platforms and resources to do not much.