Kamala Harris faced criticism from a DailyMail.com viewer panel for appearing “weak” and “bad” due to the timing and setting of her first interview as the Democratic nominee for president. Instead of going solo, she shared the spotlight with her running mate, leading some to believe she missed a strategic opportunity.
However, the panel also noted that this situation could be easily corrected by the vice president in future appearances.
Despite the critiques, Harris’s performance garnered favorable feedback. When asked for a single word to describe her, 294 viewers frequently chose terms like “presidential” and “smart.”
After over a month without interviews, Harris finally participated in a discussion with CNN’s Dana Bash, joined by her running mate Tim Walz, at a restaurant in Georgia on Thursday.
J.L. Partners conducted a survey asking viewers, “Kamala Harris did the interview with her running mate and has not conducted a solo interview since being named the nominee. How do you think this affects Kamala Harris’s image?”
J.L. Partners asked 294 viewers what they thought of Kamala Harris’s decision to wait so long to give an interview and to do it alongside her running mate on Thursday night
Overall, the response was one of disappointment.
‘I think it kind of makes her look bad because I really think she should sit down and have this interview so everyone in the world can see her point of view and where she’s coming from, said 52-year-old female restaurant manager from Texas, who plans to vote for Harris in November.
Another Harris voter from Massachusetts said she worried that it makes her look ‘as though she’s not fit to be president.’
However, others also said delaying the interview made her look ‘busy’ and Walz made look part of a ‘team.’
James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners which conducted the snap survey after the interview aired, said there were positives for Harris and for Walz.
‘Voters split by party on their views of how Harris did but they agree on one thing: Harris looked weak for not appearing solo,’ he said.
‘Voters felt she came across quite well in the interview, so it was a mistake not to appear solo straight away.
‘This, though, is something the campaign can dispel quite easily by putting her up for a solo interview soon—it doesn’t feel like something that is going to dominate the campaign.’
Harris fended off questions about flip-flopping on her policy positions, as she confirmed she no longer wanted to ban fracking and that there should be ‘consequences’ for people who cross the border illegally.
Harris appeared alongside her running mate Gov. Tim Walz to be interviewed by Dana Bash (right) for CNN on Thursday during a campaign stop in Georgia
But overall, Harris got decent reviews when viewers were asked for a one-word summary. Presidential and smart came top, followed by fake, leader and bad
‘I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,’ Harris said.
The interview got the all-star treatment from CNN, with an on-screen countdown clock and excerpts released ahead of its 9pm broadcast time.
Viewers responded with a collective ‘meh.’
When asked for the most memorable moment or issue, the words dominating the resulting word cloud were: Nothing, questions and Trump.
Johnson said Harris had cleared a hurdle, without messing anything up.
‘Voters shrugged at the CNN interview last night—it hardly gripped the nation, with “nothing” being the most common response when viewers were asked what they noticed most,’ he said.
‘But in a campaign where views of Harris are already broadly positive and they need to avoid gaffes, the Harris-Walz campaign can notch that up as a win.
‘She was seen by some as presidential and smart during the interview, while others said she was fake and liberal, hesitations that still lurk in voters’ minds when it comes to Harris.’
Critics said Harris delivered a ‘word salad’ but she also avoided gaffes
A 62-year-old retired man from Louisiana who voted Trump in 2020 but plans to vote for Harris now said: ‘From what I saw, I think she cares about this country more than Donald Trump.’
Otherwise a lot of the reactions broke down along party lines in the sample.
‘Approachable, even headed. She kept to her points pretty well,’ said a 36-year-old Harris supporter from Michigan.
But a Trump voter in New Jersey said: ‘She was given softball questions and she gave softball answers.’
And Trump 2020 voter in Ohio who has yet to make up his mind this time around said: ‘She came across as a normal politician, fake and only worried about getting votes to stay in power.’
