A New York Times report published Thursday acknowledged that Vice President Kamala Harris’ main “weakness” is her television interviews, where she has been criticized for her “word salad” answers.
Criticism of Harris’ infrequent television appearances was revealed in an article titled “Harris has many strengths. Giving interviews is not one of them” by Times reporter Rebecca Davis O’Brien.
O’Brien wrote that the Democratic presidential candidate’s individual interview appearances have “long been a weakness in her political arsenal.”
“She often moves slowly towards an answer, relying on jargon and repetition of phrases, using a language that is sometimes derided as ‘word salad’, but which can be better described as meringue,” the journalist said.
Harris has largely shied away from unscripted media appearances since she jumped to the top of the Democratic ticket. She has also been difficult to reach for White House photographers.
In fact, the vice president is on track to give the fewest interviews of any major party presidential nominee ever. Her lack of availability is a “calculation” made by her campaign, O’Brien writes.
O’Brien gave Harris high marks for her debating and campaigning skills, but wrote that she exudes a “nervousness that’s palpable” when she sits down in front of an interviewer.
The reporter noted that Harris’ career as a prosecutor has made her more adept at asking questions than getting heated as a defendant on the stand.
The vice president’s anxiety about the media “comes not from a lack of preparation or curiosity, but from a fear of saying the wrong thing,” O’Brien wrote.
Harris shied away from television interviews for an entire year after a “disaster” with NBC’s Lester Holt, when she fumbled with an answer to a question about the border crisis.
Dan Morain, a journalist who has covered Harris’ career since 2010 and wrote a biography of her in 2020, told The Times that “it can be very engaging, very fast; she’s sharp, she makes a lot of eye contact.”
But throughout her time in politics, she has never gone “out of her way” to talk to the press. “Why would she risk it?” he asked.
O’Brien wrote that when Harris does an interview, she sticks to a set of repetitive talking points, but can slip into “a sea of redundant words.”
“Her first response is often more volatile, a discursive journey to the point at hand. Like all politicians, she sometimes answers the question she would prefer to be asked, rather than what is actually being asked – but not always skillfully,” noted the journalist.
“It tends to cloud clear ideas with words or phrases that have no precise meaning.”
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