Kamala Harris, Exposed Under Pressure

By Faye Bishop

CNN Town Hall

On October 23, 2024, CNN hosted a Town Hall with Anderson Cooper in a forum room in Aston, Pennsylvania with Vice President Kamala Harris. Like many recent attempts at interviews with friendly hosts and networks, Harris failed to convince voters she was a person of substance once again falling back onto word salad answers to basic questions. Harris continues an alarming trend where she is unable or unwilling to defend or even articulate her position on key issues relevant to voters.  

During this town hall, Vice President Harris went before an audience of undecided voters and was asked questions about her past 3.5 years in office; what she would do differently, her plan for tackling the border crisis, Israel, religion, and even her weaknesses. As demonstrated during her most recent cringe-worthy interviews with 60 Minutes and FOX, Harris once again displayed why many independent voters remain skeptical of her political capabilities. 

Alarming Gaps in Leadership Readiness

For the past three months, the general voting public has witnessed mainstream media portray Harris as a rising star for the Democrat Party. She was able to forge a new identity as an Oakland, California girl of two immigrant parents: an Indian-born mother and a Jamaican-born father. Given her biracial roots and middle-class upbringing, the goal was set to make it easy for her to engage with and connect to many working-class Americans, most especially Black Americans. But it appears the sparkly shimmer of the shiny media marketing campaign has worn thin and can no longer hide the true identity of our Vice President — which is that of a politician who is clearly out of her depth and out of touch. 

During the town hall, Harris appeared uncomfortable when faced with even the mildest pushback from Cooper’s questions. Her responses were frequently evasive and she often pivoted back to rehearsed talking points rather than addressing the concerns raised directly, which is something we have watched her grow comfortable with over the past few months. Americans have become familiar with her platitudes; I have a middle-class upbringing, or I believe Americans are an aspirational people. These evasive almost pandering answers now generate eye rolls from many voters and people realize she’s using them to dodge questions. This avoidance highlights a significant issue for voters who expect transparency and forthrightness from candidates running for the highest offices in the land.

It is deeply concerning that someone in such a prominent position seems unprepared to engage substantively with criticism or complex policy issues. Harris’s discomfort when challenged on specific issues becomes especially glaring when juxtaposed with the high expectations set by her political ascent. For a candidate who has been granted tons of time to be groomed as a potential future leader of the country, this kind of performance does not inspire confidence, especially among undecided and independent voters. 

For example, Cooper asked Harris to explain her support for a bipartisan immigration deal that included $650 million in spending on a border wall. A position she previously criticized multiple times and labeled “stupid” calling it “a medieval vanity project.”

Harris responded: “So let’s talk about Donald Trump and that border wall.”

Kamala Dislikes Trump, Now What?

It is very clear she dislikes her opponent. She probably, literally, hates him. She sees Trump as a fascist whom she feels is not only unfit to lead, but also calls him a threat to our democracy. However, she falls flat when it comes to directly telling us why she’s the better fit. She consistently avoids giving direct answers and taking accountability. Even when asked questions by members of the audience, rather than address the current administration’s policies and the role she played, Harris repeatedly deflected, blaming Trump, who isn’t the one in office, and giving word salad answers often slouching while standing up a tell that a person lacks confidence.  

What is most troubling is the media’s continued promotion of Harris without adequately addressing these concerns. While it’s clear that many outlets seek to present her in a favorable light, this does not change the reality of her repeated underwhelming performances when confronted with substantive inquiries during interviews. Her appearance did little to quell the doubts of those of us who are still searching for answers on why she’s the better candidate.

The role of vice president, and potentially president, demands a level of transparency and intellectual rigor that Harris did not display during the town hall. Her inability to navigate mild scrutiny reflects poorly on her readiness to tackle the complexities of leading a nation leaving many voters like myself, who question whether she has the fortitude and competence to serve in a role that requires swift, decisive action under immense pressure. When she first announced her run, I believed she avoided interviews due to possibly being nervous and ill-prepared, or both. After all, with the time constraints of having to organize a campaign in such a short period before election day, how could she navigate, right? But then upon watching interview after interview over the past few weeks witnessing the consistency of her avoidance of giving direct answers combined with her lack of accountability; I now affirmatively believe she simply doesn’t want to be prepared and ultimately feels she shouldn’t have to be nor does she feel the need to tell us anything. 

Had Harris gone through the electoral process this would have been exposed months ago. There is a reason she didn’t even make it to Iowa when she ran for president in 2020. She was a terrible candidate then and she is a terrible candidate now. But Harris didn’t have to face voters in 2024. Unique among modern American candidates, Kamala was anointed by her party, not selected by American voters in the primary system. It is obvious she isn’t prepared as a candidate and this makes me wonder, is she equally unprepared for the highest office in the land?

With an election that is less than two weeks away, we still do not know anything about Vice President Kamala Harris nor can we pinpoint any real goal or objective she has as to why she deserves a promotion from Vice President to President of the United States. She’s not Donald Trump and feels this is the primary reason why everyone should vote for her. That’s it. That’s all. That’s not enough. Her CNN appearance sealed it.