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Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled for her first sit-down interview since announcing her run for president 38 days ago — but with some help on the side.
CNN will host Harris in a joint interview with running mate Tim Walz on Thursday.
“The interview, conducted by CNN’s chief political correspondent and anchor Dana Bash, will air at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday,” the network announced on Tuesday.
“It occurs as the candidates embark on a bus tour through the battleground state of Georgia and marks the first time Harris has sat with a journalist for an in-depth, on-the-record conversation since President Joe Biden dropped his bid for a second term and endorsed her on July 21,” it continued.
The decision was quickly criticized, including during an interview on CNN.
“I think it’s incredibly weak, weak sauce, to show up with your running mate,” Scott Jennings, a former special assistant to President George W. Bush, told CNN, arguing that the decision showed a “troubling lack of confidence in her political ability.”
“It makes you wonder as a voter, ‘What kind of president would you be?’” he continued. “I think Republicans are going to think it’s pretty weak to show up effectively with someone who’ll take up half the time.”
Harris has been attacked by President Donald Trump and other Republicans for “hiding” and “flip-flopping” on a variety of political issues.
Trump campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement on Tuesday following an Axios report claiming Harris now supports the border wall.
“How much longer will the mainstream media allow Kamala Harris to hide and use staff to speak on her behalf? It’s DAY 37 of ZERO interviews and Kamala’s anonymous campaign sources are now claiming she supports President Trump’s border wall — this is a preposterous and false claim. Kamala’s RECORD proves she is pro-open border,” she wrote.
“She called the wall ‘un-American,’ a ‘waste of taxpayer money,’ ‘medieval,’ and said it isn’t going to ‘stop’ illegal immigration,” Leavitt continued.
Harris has also changed her view about not taxing tips, copying a campaign promise from Trump.
Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung blasted the change.
“Copy Cat Kamala is a dishonest, fraudulent failure. She won’t sit down and answer questions about why she stole President Trump’s No Tax on Tips proposal,” he wrote.