CNN host Dana Bash recently caught backlash for giving “softball” questions to Vice President Kamala Harris in a Thursday night interview. Critics have blasted Bash for allegedly going easy on Harris, sparing her from hard-hitting questions and even seeming to provide the vice president with answers to her own questions.
Bash sitting down with Harris marks the first substantive interview the Democratic presidential candidate has given the press since stepping up to lead the ticket after Joe Biden dropped out. However, Harris seemingly avoided the press for weeks and refused to engage with the media compared to the Trump-Vance campaign and former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
However, left-leaning CNN attempted to portray the interview as having tough questions for Harris. Host Richard Quest claimed, “Vice President Harris is in the hot seat on a bus tour in Georgia. She’s sitting down with our own Dana Bash alongside her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, in what’s the first exclusive interview with the Democratic Party presidential team since the historic switch from President Biden. CNN correspondent Eva McKend added, “This is a real test now, how she can do when pressed on certain issues.”
However, Bash asked very simple questions, even offering possible answers for the president to go off of. For example, the CNN host asked Harris, “Generally speaking, how should voters look at some of the changes that you’ve made — that you explained some of here — in your policy? Is it because you have more experience now and you’ve learned more about the information? Is it because you’re running for president in a Democratic primary?”
Bash asked Harris in another question, “I just have to ask you both about two standout moments, aside of course from the addresses that you both gave, but standout moments that were perhaps unexpected during the convention. You mentioned one of them, governor, a moment that you shared, that the world shared with your son, Gus. You were speaking. The camera caught him so incredibly proud of you, so emotional, saying, “That’s my dad.””
The CNN host continued, “To Harris: The photograph that has gone viral. You were speaking. One of your grand-nieces that you were just talking about was watching you accept the nomination. You didn’t explicitly talk about gender or race in your speech. But it obviously means a lot to a lot of people. And that viral picture really says it. What does it mean to you?”
Bash further questioned Harris, “You insisted that President Biden is extraordinarily strong. Given where we are now, do you have any regrets about what you told the American people?” She responded, “No, not at all. Not at all. He is so smart and — and loyal to the American people. And I have spent hours upon hours with him, be it in the Oval Office or the Situation Room. He has the intelligence, the commitment, and the judgment and disposition that I think the American people rightly deserve in their president.”
The interview has been slammed by conservative critics such as Ben Shapiro, who wrote on X, “These are softball questions and she’s still finding a way to word salad them.” He added in another post, “Dana Bash’s lack of follow-up to virtually any difficult question was egregious tonight. A full-scale betrayal of her supposed journalistic profession. A half-dozen easy follow-ups would have totally fried Kamala’s circuits. Bash knew it, which is why she didn’t do it.”
Watch an absurd claim on “Bidenomics” from Harris below:
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