Here's a very long post on a lengthy video clip from "Real Time with Bill Maher," but it's worth it to see journalists outside their natural habitat, which is the liberal bubble. You might remember the uproar when the New York Times hired "conservative" columnist Bret Stephens during the Trump administration … he's their conservative like David French is their conservative Christian columnist.
There was a good exchange, though, between Stephens and MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle on Mahr's show. As we reported earlier this week, according to Axios, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have done a combined 72 interviews compared to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz's seven. Stephens wanted to know why Harris has been avoiding interviews — and even the ones she takes are softballs, like Dana Bash and Oprah Winfrey. Ruhle explained that "We don't live in Nirvana."
Bret Stephens asks Stephanie Ruhle why Kamala Harris has not done interviews and stated clearly what her policy positions are. Ruhle responds that 'We don't live in Nirvana':
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) September 21, 2024
Bret Stephens: "I'm an undecided voter. I'm not sure I want to vote for Kamala. My fear is that she… pic.twitter.com/y80j8kDIWh
… My fear is that she doesn't really have a very good command of what she wants to do as president.
It would be great for her to sit down with you, or George Stephanopoulos, or you Stephanie.
It's not too much to ask Kamala 'Are you for a Palestinian state, if Hamas is going to run that state?'"
Stephanie Ruhle: "If you don't like her answer, are you going to vote for Trump? Kamala Harris is not running for perfect, she is running against Trump.
We have two choices. There are some things that you might not know her answer too.
In 2024, we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is, and the kind of threat he is to democracy."
Bret Stephens: "The problem that a lot of people have with Kamala is that we don't know her answer to anything."
Ruhle: "But you know his answer to everything."
Stephens: "People also are expected to have some idea of what the program that you're supposed to vote for.
I don't think it's a lot to ask for her to sit down for a real interview."
Ruhle: "When you move to Nirvana, I'll be your next door neighbor. We don't live there."
Stephanie Ruhle thinks it's 'utopian' to demand Kamala Harris go through the process that every other candidate for president has gone through, a public vetting process.
Turns out, Stephanie Ruhle and her ilk are the true 'threats to democracy'.
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She doesn't have a very good command of what she wants to do as president and those things that she knows she wants to do she's had to flip-flop on since her 2020 campaign.
"We have two choices. There are some things that you might not know her answer to."
Journalists against people in power giving interviews. https://t.co/fJC06yEpEp
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) September 21, 2024
I WISH I could say I was surprised... pic.twitter.com/EUDaPkyuza
— LORD SCREWTAPE (@screwtape1a12) September 21, 2024
Generous to define MSDNC opinion hosts as journalists who care first about their profession.
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) September 21, 2024
Sadly true. Complete echo chamber.
— Pimm Fox (@pimmfox) September 21, 2024
The real issue is not that Harris does not want to address issues in interviews, but rather that she apparently doesn't have answers and has never given serious though to the issues.
— Norm Matloff 一啲都唔明 (@matloff) September 21, 2024
The media is absolutely in on it, covering for her
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) September 21, 2024
So it’s Nirvana to get basic answers on policy positions?? Wow.
— Pam Murray (@PamMurrayCT) September 21, 2024
Harris giving interviews on policy would hurt her campaign, and that's not the path to Nirvana for Ruhle.
“Harris doesn’t have to talk to voters because she’s not Trump and that’s all that matters “. 🤮
— Alex Shepard 🇺🇸 (@Sinnersaint39) September 21, 2024
It worked out for Joe Biden and his basement in 2020 — we'll see if people are still as brainwashed.
Pure out of touch, ivory tower attitude this is a huge mistake. Nobody in America likes entitlement, and if you only pitch is "I'm less bad than my opposition" you're gonna be in for a rude surprise for that role!
— BlueyAnon (@BlueyAnon) September 21, 2024
So, Bret Stephens doesn’t understand that Harris is incapable of giving an interview. She’s not smart enough. What does that say about him?
— Francisco Chevez (@fchevez1203) September 21, 2024
An interview with Harris would be easy — just go point by point and asked her why she's done a 180 on every policy position she held in 2019.
"... threat to Democracy."
— Sandy 〽️ (@RightGlockMom) September 21, 2024
There it is again. From the media!
Ruhle is simply a water carrier for the #Dem party. They don't even try to hide it anymore. Her answers were absolutely assinine.
— Publius ☀️🏈🇺🇲🗽🗳️ (@NoleDodger) September 21, 2024
It's embarrassing. It should be demeaning for someone who considers themselves a "journalist" to say these words out loud.
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