Chris Cillizza Reveals Why Harris Avoids Interviews

Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza said on Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris avoids many interviews due to her historically weak performances.

Harris recently gave her first national solo interview since becoming the Democratic Party’s vice-presidential nominee, speaking with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle. Cillizza, responding to a viewer’s question on his YouTube channel, noted he “didn’t think she was great” in the interview and referenced her struggles in past interviews.

Media representatives report that the Kamala Harris campaign is avoiding questions about Hurricane Helene, leading to speculation about her stance. During interviews, Harris provided ambiguous responses and suggested a complex relationship with climate… https://t.co/DnjjSiIkkO

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“I thought Stephanie Ruhle was exactly who I thought she would be, which is, I thought she was pro-Harris but fair, right? When Harris didn’t answer a question, I thought she was like, ‘Well, that’s not really answering the question.’ So she clearly prefers Harris to Trump — Ruhle does — but I didn’t think it was like over-the-top ridiculous,” Cillizza said.

Ruhle previously downplayed Harris’ need to answer policy questions due to the “threat” posed by former President Donald Trump to “democracy.”

Cillizza added, “I didn’t think Harris was great. I thought on tariffs her answer wasn’t particularly good, on the economy her answer wasn’t particularly good. She’s just not great in those settings, like she wasn’t great in the CNN interview, she wasn’t great in the MSNBC interview. There’s a reason she’s not doing a lot of those interviews.”

In the interview, Harris also reiterated her stance that wealthy Americans and corporations should “pay their fair share” of taxes, a phrase that pollster Frank Luntz criticized the next day.

Q: President Trump has done dozens of interviews and press conference. Kamala has done one scripted, taped interview. Why is she avoiding the American people?

Harris co-chair Chris Coons: "I'm not her daily scheduler." pic.twitter.com/fTwLdM7PJK

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“Some of what she has said in the last few weeks are exactly what voters want to hear. That is not. ‘Pay their fair share.’ We’ve heard it now for how many years, 30, maybe 40? What exactly is fair share? … And the issue for that is it’s a sound bite, it’s a slogan. And I know that I’m a messaging person so that’s my job,” Luntz said. “However, the public demands a detailed plan of action and they’re not getting it from her.”