Pollster Frank Luntz highlighted seven errors and missed opportunities he perceived in Vice President Kamala Harris’ Thursday CNN interview. Harris’s interview with CNN’s Dana Bash marked her first sit-down since launching her 2024 presidential campaign on July 21. On CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Friday morning, Luntz expressed disappointment, noting that given the preparation time she had, he expected a more effective performance. “I was not impressed as an observer and someone who’s expecting more from her with this much time to get prepared,” Luntz said before firing off a list of mistakes he believes she made.
Bash’s initial question focused on what Harris would achieve on her first day as president. Harris responded by stating her goal to “strengthen the middle class,” but she provided no further details. “First, and I call it DOD, which is Day One Detail. She gave child tax credits, a housing credit. She should have had something for day one, for the first hour, the first day, the first week, the first month and the first year,” he said. “It’s the most important thing voters are looking for to see whether you’re serious. She really didn’t itemize much more than her talking points.”
“Second, it’s not inflation. It’s affordability. And the fact is, food, fuel, housing and health care has become so much more expensive. She said she understood it, but she didn’t give ideas to address it and to solve it,” Luntz continued. “Third, she emphasized repeatedly, ‘My values haven’t changed.’ Because she’s been accused of being a flip-flopper. It’s not values, that’s about her. It’s priorities, because that’s about all of us.”
“Number four, ‘You deserve.’ She talked once again as though it was still a convention speech. She did not itemize exactly what the people of the United States deserve in terms of their president, in terms of, in her case, her policies,” he added. “Number five, the C word. She talked about consensus and a little bit about common ground. It’s really common sense, because voters are not looking for an ideological president. They’re looking for someone who can get things done — a real record of results.”
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“Sixth, in her attack of Trump, she should have said, ‘He promised, he failed, it’s time to give someone a chance to do a better job.’ Compare Trump’s record rather than just shots at him,” Luntz said, adding, “And number seven,’ how would you feel if your kids spoke to you the way Donald Trump speaks to America?’ It’s a simple rhetorical question. It’s her strongest criticism of Trump. I didn’t hear that last night.”
Republican strategist Scott Jennings remarked on Thursday that he would be “salivating” over the opportunity to have Kamala Harris defend her and President Joe Biden’s economic record if he were running Trump’s presidential campaign. When Bash questioned Harris about her stance on decriminalizing border crossings—a position she supported during her 2019 campaign—the vice president avoided a direct answer. Instead, she emphasized the need for “consequence” and reiterated that “we have laws that have to be followed and enforced.”
As the de facto ‘border czar,’ Harris was placed in charge of dealing with the “root causes” of mass migration into the country after Biden, on his very first day in office, reversed the vast majority of former President Donald Trump’s tough border security and enforcement policies. Since then, illegal crossings set several records during the Biden-Harris administration.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.