The Presidential campaign hit one of its inflection points.
Democrats will have to deal with the consequences.
And one damning picture will send Kamala Harris’ campaign into a downward spiral.
Kamala Harris’ first interview contains massive gaffe
Kamala Harris wants to have it both ways.
On one hand, Kamala Harris wants voters to consider her a fresh new face who just appeared on the political scene.
On the other hand, she also wants the political advantages of incumbency in that voters’ natural inclination is to stick with the status quo.
Those competing desires landed Kamala Harris in trouble in her first interview.
CNN’s Dana Bash knew her job was to hand hold Kamala through this chat so Kamala could check the box to say she did an interview while also protecting Kamala from any campaign-killing gaffes.
But even with the interviewer acting as her public relations agent, Kamala still imploded.
At one point Bash tossed a softball Kamala’s way about her past comments, declaring that Bidenomics is a “success.”
Polls show a majority of Americans think the country is in a recession, so Bash teed up Kamala to clean up her remarks.
Kamala Harris tried to extol the virtues of the economy.
“I maintain that, when we do the work of bringing down prescription medication for the American people, including capping the cost of the annual cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000 — when we do what we did in the first year of being an office to extend the child tax credits so that we cut child poverty in America by over 50%, when we do what we have done to invest in the American people and bringing manufacturing back to the United States so that we created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, bringing business back to America, what we have done to improve the supply chain so we’re not relying on foreign governments just supply American families with their basic needs, I’ll say that that’s good work. There’s more to do, but that’s good work,” Kamala Harris stated.
Dana Bash: “So, you maintain that Bidenomics is a success?”
Vice President Kamala Harris: “I maintain that, when we do the work of bringing down prescription medication for the American people, including capping the cost of the annual cost of prescription medication for seniors… pic.twitter.com/XRik6qMsYo
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 30, 2024
The trap Kamala Harris walked into
Republican strategist Scott Jennings summed up the political landmine Kamala Harris just stepped in when he shared a screen-cap of the CNN chyron for Kamala’s answer that read, “Harris stands by Biden administration’s economic record.”
Chyron: pic.twitter.com/DNRJf5GYxH
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) August 30, 2024
The last thing Kamala Harris wants is a visual image of her tethered to Joe Biden for voters to digest.
According to an August 15 Redfield and Wilton Strategies poll, 46 percent of Americans think the economy is worse off than when the Kamala-Biden administration took office in January 2021.
If the framing of Kamala Harris that voters settle on is that she is a defender of the status quo, then Donald Trump has the edge.
