By Kai Godsey
As the 2024 United States presidential election reaches its final days, Vice President Kamala Harris has set her sights on the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The state’s 19 electoral votes are likely to be her key to the White House, as no Democrat has won the presidency without securing Pennsylvania since Harry S. Truman’s win in 1948. It is generally believed that if Harris is able to win Pennsylvania and continues her trending leads in both Michigan and Wisconsin, she is bound to become the first female president of the United States.
On Oct. 17, Harris sat down with Fox News anchor Bret Baier in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania for a tense, thirty-minute interview in which Baier interrupted Harris thirty-eight times. The combative tone was quickly established, with Baier grilling Harris on her border policies for nearly half of their time — which many voters identify as a weak topic for Harris. Throughout the interview, Baier played multiple out-of-context, misleading soundbytes from previous comments Harris and Trump had made, attempting to cast Harris in an unsavory light.
Harris’ Fox News appearance was largely motivated by her need to appeal to Republican voters who are unsatisfied with former President Donald Trump’s current platform. Baier’s journalistic style was attack-based, his conduct criticized even by his Fox peers in a post interview panel. Baier’s interview rapidly became an interrogation, prompting Harris to raise her voice, which further hurt her appeal to undecided Republicans. In a political climate that bases female politicians’ worth on likeability and palatable rhetoric, Harris was put in a lose-lose situation from the second she sat down with Baier. The Fox News interview was easily one of Harris’ worst performances and likely did little to sway undecided voters.
That being said, Harris had the opportunity to redeem herself a week later, in what I would consider a much more successful interview for the democratic campaign.
One week later, on Oct. 23, Harris attended a town hall meeting — also in Pennsylvania — moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Trump was invited to join but declined. The meeting differed drastically from her previous Fox appearance; her performance was much stronger when given the opportunity to respond to questions without interruption, allowing her to establish how her beliefs and policies will impact everyday Americans.
Harris faced questions from a panel of undecided voters on a range of issues including the economy, abortion rights and U.S. involvement in the Middle East. She repeatedly expressed her desire for bipartisan cooperation, stressing that lasting solutions on issues such as border security require support across both sides of the aisle.
When asked what she would do to ensure the safety of Palestinian civilians, Harris shifted, giving a non-answer in which she emphasized the importance of Israel’s right to defend itself. When pressed by Cooper about what she would say to voters unwilling to vote for her due to her support of Israel, Harris pivoted, telling Cooper that many who see U.S. involvement in the Israel-Hamas war are not always single-issue voters; they also care about domestic issues such as lowering the cost of living and preventing an unstable Trump from taking the White House for a second term.
While many tuning into the town hall interview may have agreed with Harris’ answer, I found her redirection unsatisfactory and dismissive toward young voters unwilling to cast a vote for another politician who has remained complicit in genocide overseas. However, I did appreciate her reminder that we as voters are presented with two drastically different candidates, and I would urge my peers to consider the ways in which a Trump presidency would be catastrophically harmful for the marginalized, both home and abroad.
Harris also took the opportunity to draw a clear distinction between herself and her opponent, parroting remarks from Trump’s former Chief of Staff John Kelly who said his former employer meets the definition of a fascist. In contrast, Harris emphasized her role in protecting American democracy, a tenet that has become increasingly jeopardized by the alt-right, as evidenced by the Jan. 6th insurrection.
In her closing town hall remarks, Harris portrayed herself as a leader focused on serving the people, in contrast to Trump, who she suggested is consumed with settling personal scores. She pledged that if elected, her focus would be on making progress for everyday Americans, not on exacting political revenge.
Harris’ performance at the CNN town hall was drastically better than her Fox News appearance. Although her two media stops likely did little to sway undecided voters in her direction, she effectively made her platform known. While Harris promises policies that can potentially lead America in a progressive direction, Harris’ best quality is simple, she is not Donald Trump.
About the Author
