After avoiding a probing interview by a journalist for the first month of her sudden presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris’ first one Thursday was notable mostly in how routine it seemed.
CNN’s Dana Bash, sitting down with Harris and running mate Tim Walz in a Georgia restaurant, asked her about some issues where she had changed positions, the historical nature of her candidacy, what she would do on her first day as president, and whether she’d invite a Republican to be a Cabinet member (to which she said yes).
Bash didn’t ask — and the Democratic nominee didn’t volunteer — why it took so long to submit to an interview and whether she will do more again as a candidate.
Harris drew criticism for not doing an interview until now.
In the interview, taped earlier Thursday at Kim’s Cafe in Savannah, Georgia, Bash occasionally pressed Harris when she failed to answer a question directly. For example, she asked four times about what led Harris to change her position on fracking. Bash asked whether voters should be completely confident that what Harris is saying now will be the policy moving forward.
Bash also asked Harris twice about her stance on actions like withholding military aid to Israel to reach a peace deal in the Mideast. Harris emphasized the importance of a deal but offered no new specifics on achieving it.
When Bash raised Trump’s suggestion that Harris had only recently been emphasizing her Black roots, the vice president swiftly brushed it aside.
CNN political analyst David Axelrod suggested that Harris had raised the stakes by delaying interviews, but after the interview with Bash, he said that she “did what she needed to do.”
Harris joined a tradition of including her running mate, Tim Walz, in the interview. This decision stood out due to her lack of solo interviews and the compressed nature of her campaign.
Ultimately, Bash directed only four questions to Walz, and the vice presidential candidate didn’t interject or add to Harris’ responses.
This was the second high-profile moment for Bash this campaign, following her moderation of June’s debate between Trump and Biden.
David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him on Twitter.
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