After over a month of anticipation from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, she and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will finally sit for her first unscripted interview. However, her decision to bring her running mate along is being criticized by CNN analyst Scott Jennings, who described it as “weak sauce.”
Jennings, a conservative commentator for the network, suggested that the move reflects a lack of confidence among Harris’s aides in her ability to handle a solo interview with Dana Bash on Thursday. The 9 p.m. ET interview is scheduled while Harris is campaigning in Georgia, a crucial swing state for the upcoming November election. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper also questioned why Harris cannot appear alone, which led to Jennings’ response.
“I have great confidence in Dana and CNN to do this. I think it’s incredibly weak, weak sauce, to show up with your running mate. The fact that they don’t have enough confidence in her to let her sit, herself, the actual top of the ticket and let her do a single interview… in fact, I think the hand-wringing and the gyrations over this, over the last month, show a troubling lack of confidence in her ability, which also makes you wonder as a voter what kind of president would you be if this kind of a small-time decision – can we do an interview or not? – what does that look like for your decision-making process,” questioned Jennings. “So yes, I think Republicans are going to think it’s pretty weak to show up effectively with someone to take up half the time.”
WATCH:
For weeks, former President Donald Trump and his media allies have criticized Democrats for keeping Kamala Harris out of the spotlight. She has been limited to tightly scripted rallies and teleprompters, with only a brief interaction with Fox News’s Peter Doocy, who humorously asked when he might get a one-on-one interview with her. Harris laughed and shrugged as aides hurried her past reporters and out a side door. The announcement of her CNN interview aligns with a prior promise from her spokesman that she would sit down for an interview by the end of the month. However, the decision to include Walz in the interview has raised eyebrows.
Horse traders betting on the November presidential election, meanwhile, are shifting their predictions following the Democratic National Convention. According to online political betting markets, former President Donald Trump is gaining ground.
At Polymarket, where bettors place wagers on whether Trump or Harris will win, Trump now holds a 52% to 47% lead. This marks a notable reversal from pre-DNC figures, which had Harris leading Trump 52% to 48%. The shift represents a five-point gain for Trump and a four-point drop for Harris, reflecting a nine-point swing in the market’s assessment of this week’s Democratic event in Chicago. Over $681 million has been wagered on the platform.
POLYMARKET, 8/19 (PRE-DNC)
? Harris 52% (+4)
? Trump 48%POLYMARKET, NOW
? Trump 52% (+5)
? Harris 47%A nine-point swing in the betting markets towards Trump during the DNC. They aren’t liking what they see.
— Red Eagle Politics (@RedEaglePatriot) August 21, 2024
The next chance for markets to evaluate Trump and Harris together will be the debate scheduled for September 10th on ABC News. Trump, who is suing network anchor George Stephanopoulos for defamation, has dropped his conflict-of-interest argument after trying to pressure Harris into a debate on Fox News, his preferred network. Observers will be keen to see if Harris can deliver effective one-liners and articulate her policy positions throughout the two-hour debate. Trump has criticized Harris’s role as the administration’s “border czar” and labeled her as “not very smart,” contrasting his own lengthy press conference with Harris’s perceived lack of transparency.