Was Kamala Harris’ First Interview a Success? Experts Weigh In

Vice President Kamala Harris has been largely praised by experts for her CNN interview, focusing on policy while not harming the momentum she has enjoyed so far in her 2024 campaign.

On Thursday, Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, appeared for their first major television interview of the 2024 Democratic ticket’s campaign in a pre-recorded conversation with CNN host Dana Bash.

The interview came as Harris faced repeated criticism from Republican figures for not granting an interview or having held a news conference since President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed her in the 2024 race. Harris and Walz have seen waves of support and enthusiasm for their White House bid, with polls showing that the vice president is improving on Biden’s numbers and leading Donald Trump.

Among some of the key moments from the CNN interview was Harris suggesting that her “values have not changed” when asked why she no longer supports banning fracking or that the border should be decriminalized, which she said during her 2020 election run.

Harris also laid out her economic proposals, stating her day one policy will be implementing her “opportunity economy” strategy to help lower the cost of everyday goods and extending the child tax credit to $6,000 for families for the first year of their child’s life.

Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, was reluctant to respond to Trump’s attacks against her, telling Bash that the former president’s suggestions that she “happened to turn Black” in recent years for political gain was the “same old, tired playbook,” adding: “Next question, please.”

Susan McWilliams Barndt, professor of politics at Pomona College in California, said that the broadcast “wasn’t a joy interview. It was a job interview” and Harris made the right decision by focusing on policy above everything else.

“She was making a case from beginning to end—and the case was her own experience and fitness for the presidency,’ Barndt told Newsweek.

“Harris summed up the case she was trying to make near the end of the interview, when she said: ‘I am the best person to do this job at this moment.’ Harris and Walz largely played it safe in this interview. They kept their answers short. They kept their cool when the questions were pointed. They kept a focus on policy. They kept a tight leash on their emotions. They kept it serious.

“If people were coming to this interview hoping to see Harris bringing the joy back to America, like Tim Walz has been saying, they didn’t get that in this interview. But that was probably a calculated choice on the part of the Harris-Walz campaign. They can bring the joy at rallies; in this interview, they brought the competence.”

Stephen K. Medvic, the Honorable and Mrs. John C. Kunkel Professor of Government at Franklin & Marshall College, said Harris “likely accomplished what she set out to do” in the CNN interview.

This includes appealing to those in the middle of the political spectrum with her policy announcements, and with her tone by suggesting she could appoint a Republican into her cabinet.

“She has to convince voters that she’s up to the challenge of being president and that she’s not the ‘radical’ left-winger that Trump and Republicans are trying to make her out to be,” Medvic told Newsweek. “She did that successfully in this interview by showing a command of the issues, emphasizing moderate positions on those issues, and reminding viewers that she was a prosecutor.”

Medvic added that Harris handled the accusation that she has changed her policies from just a few years ago “about as well as could be expected.”

“It’s a tough spot for a candidate to be in because the flip-flopping charge implies opportunism in a candidate,” Medvic said. “By saying—at two different points in the interview—that her ‘values haven’t changed,’ she’s countering the charge of opportunism with a claim to being principled. She probably fought that battle to a draw tonight.”

During the interview, Harris repeatedly praised the presidency of Biden, including bringing down inflation after it reached decades-high levels, and signing the landmark climate and clean energy bill, the Inflation Reduction Act.

Harris also stated that she largely shares Biden’s stance on issues such as the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and said that she will continue to work on freeing the captured hostages and ensuring a ceasefire.

Grant Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, suggested that Harris failed to differentiate herself from the current Biden administration enough during the interview.

“It was fairly specifics-free in terms of positions and explanations of overall policy approach. A few things about the border and about an expanded child tax credit and a first-time house-buying credit—and that she doesn’t want to ban fracking nationally,” Reeher told Newsweek.

“But otherwise, I didn’t hear anything that helps me get a clearer [idea about] what a Harris administration would attempt to do. And I have no idea whatsoever on how a Harris presidency would differ from a Biden presidency.”