MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle defended Vice President Kamala Harris’ failure to provide detailed answers on policy questions Friday night, citing the “threat” Ruhle claims former President Donald Trump poses to democracy.
In the few interviews Harris has taken since President Joe Biden announced the end of his reelection bid, she has avoided giving detailed answers about policy. Ruhle mocked New York Times columnist Bret Stephens when he said Harris should be questioned on foreign policy during an episode of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
“I’m an undecided voter,” Stephens said. “I’m never going to vote for Trump, but I’m not sure I want to vote for Kamala and my fear is that she doesn’t really have a very good command of what she wants to do as president.” Stephens added that Harris could answer questions on foreign policy, including whether or not she’d support a Palestinian state run by Hamas, citing the failure of then-Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush to know world leaders during his 2000 campaign.
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“And let’s say you don’t like her answer, are you going to vote for Donald Trump?” Ruhle asked. “Kamala Harris is not running for perfect, she is running against Trump. We have two choices, and so there are some things that you might not know her answer to, and in 2024, unlike 2016 for a lot of the American people, we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is, and the kind of threat he is to democracy.”
Harris has reportedly backed away from several left-wing positions she championed during her campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination for president primarily through statements made by campaign aides to reporters. Harris’ campaign website recently added an “issues” section, but it appeared to be a cut-and-paste from the campaign site used during Biden’s reelection bid.
“The problem that a lot of people have with Kamala is that we don’t know her answer to anything,” Stephens responded, with Ruhle retorting, “But you know his answer to everything.”
“And that’s why I would never vote for him and why people shouldn’t vote for him,” Stephens shot back. “But people also are expected to have some idea of what the program is of the person that you’re supposed to vote for … I don’t think it’s a lot to ask for her to sit down for a real interview as opposed to a puff piece.”
Harris sat with media mogul Oprah Winfrey Thursday in a forum where she provided meandering answers on multiple issues.
Featured Image Credit: Marc Nozell
Marc Nozell_
