Staff Reports
Vice President Kamala Harris is finally stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight for an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, set to air at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. This move comes after plenty of scrutiny over Harris’s noticeable absence from the media scene. One has to wonder if her team finally realized that dodging press inquiries doesn’t quite play well in the lead-up to an election.
This interview marks a significant moment as it will be only the second major sit-down with a news network since Harris became the Democratic nominee. She previously graced CNN with an interview alongside her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and made a brief appearance with the queen of daytime herself, Oprah Winfrey. But those fleeting moments might not have been enough to quell the rising tide of criticisms regarding her media interactions. It seems even those inside her party are feeling the heat.
EXCLUSIVE TONIGHT at 7pm ET.@VP Kamala Harris sits down with @SRuhle for her first one-on-one network interview since becoming the Democratic nominee.
Watch the full interview tonight at 7pm ET. pic.twitter.com/2ZYLKSi33d
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 25, 2024
California Governor Gavin Newsom, after witnessing his fellow Democrat’s media habits, expressed that some more airtime wouldn’t hurt. He took to the airwaves on CBS Mornings to suggest that Harris needs to put herself out there ahead of the election. Newsom provided a peek into the strategy playbook by insisting that Harris should be engaging with the media more often, hinting that people might think she’s hiding. It’s almost as if the governor is trying to sell a dessert while claiming the chef hasn’t been in the kitchen lately.
Newsom also adorned Harris with a rather ambitious title, calling her the future of the party, contrasting her with Donald Trump, who he claims is “about the past.” In the grand scheme of things, perhaps Newsom believes that media avoidance is an act of strategy, not embarrassment. After all, what better way to maintain an air of mystery than to stay out of the limelight?
Despite all of Gavin Newsom’s fluff, it remains to be seen if this single interview will suffice in reintroducing Kamala Harris to an audience who might have forgotten what she sounds like. Whether this interview changes the narrative or simply adds another layer to her perplexing strategy will be the real test. After all, with election season in full swing, one could argue that the real question isn’t about her “modestly shifted positions” but simply whether she will manage to appear on screen without tripping over her responses again.
