As Twitchy reported earlier, Luke Russert, host and creator of "MSNBC Live," declared that Kamala Harris had set the bar with her sit-down interview with CNN's Dana Bash. She was "lucid and coherent" for 50 minutes, he observed. (Actually, it was closer to 18 minutes.)
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, writing for TIME Magazine, gave Harris' interview a B+, but they still think there's room for improvement.
Column: Here's how Kamala Harris can communicate better in future interviewshttps://t.co/uCi6SU3KBH
— TIME (@TIME) August 31, 2024
They write:
As several post-mortems have noted, some of Harris’ winding answers were hardly master classes in concision. The New York Times quipped: “She still struggles to be punchy off the cuff… Thursday’s interview was a reminder that unscripted, she can sometimes deliver discursive answers that ramble and zigzag.”
Of course, bringing a script to an unscripted interview never works. But at times, it felt as if Harris’ replies were being tested for the first time akin to a student thinking aloud in class as opposed to tapping into the excitement of fresh insight and original analysis.
They just repeated what everyone has already been saying … Harris speaks like a student giving a book report without having read the book.
"It's not enough to merely avoid doing any harm in interviews," they conclude. "Adhering to the Hippocratic Oath may guide the mission of physicians, but not the mission of presidential candidates." This takes us back to when Joe Biden's handlers had their fingers crossed that Biden wouldn't go off-script.
Cool. Has @TIME got some pointers for Trump too? Is that how this works now? The media gives the campaigns tips. Oh. Just Harris. Gotcha.
— Gerry Rainbolt (@LegitBiscuit_) August 31, 2024
Maybe you’ve already done it, and if so, can you link the article where you provide Trump advice. If not, are you going to do one?
— joe Sabado (@JoeSabado) August 31, 2024
Time giving Kamala pointers🤪
— Richard Cuadra (@RichardC90564) August 31, 2024
Any pointers for Trump?
WTF is wrong with you?! You are now part of her campaign?
— SazzygirlinCali (@RjbRocklin) August 31, 2024
Lol you're trying to help her. Where's your story on how Trump can better communicate?
— Abi Habas (@AbiHabas) August 31, 2024
If she can't handle the pressure of a CNN interview with her VP by her side, being softballed questions... how the hell can she lead America in the world in the face of faaaaaar harsher tests, negotiating and standing up to adversaries and major issues. No chance.
— archipirata (@Architecturous) August 31, 2024
The person you’re voting for needs a lesson on how to communicate?
— The Old Hombre (@theoldhombre) August 31, 2024
“Overall, Harris should be commended for sitting down with CNN…”.
— PolitiSlap ❤️🇺🇸 (@PolitiSlap) August 31, 2024
Really???
Wow, sitting down for one prerecorded interview on a friendly network nearly 40 days after being installed as the presidential nominee. We commend her for that.
The less interviews she does the better for her campaign.
— TKA (@TkaPublishing) August 31, 2024
That advice has already been given by plenty of Democrat pundits, like John Harwood. "Why won't she do nearly as many as they'd like?" Harwood asked. "Because she's trying to win the election."
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