NABJ Skips Fact-Checks, Asks Harris About How GOP 'Weaponized' Her Laugh

Alex Christy
September 17th, 2024 4:50 PM

Text to Speech

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When Donald Trump sat down with the National Association of Black Journalists on July 31, the tone was combative and those interviewing him insisted on doing live fact-checking. On Tuesday, it was Kamala Harris’s turn for a much softer interview that saw the on-the-spot fact-checking go away despite multiple factually incorrect statements and be replaced with questions about how the GOP has "weaponized" her laughter.

Politico White House correspondent Eugene Daniels kicked off a series of softballs where he invited Harris to explain why, in her opinion, voters are better off than they were four years ago.

NPR Fresh Air host Tonya Mosley followed up with another softball, “What plans will you propose to guarantee that families can actually afford childcare and elder care?”

 

 

Throughout, Harris gave long-winded answers, and after she claimed “no working family should pay more than 7% of their income in childcare,” TheGrio White House correspondent Gerren Keith Gaynor invited her to simply give a stump speech, “What is your message to young black male voters who feel left out of this economy and how can your economic policies materially change your lives?"

When the tough questions began, they were from the left, as Mosley asked about Gaza, “Where do you see the line between aggression and defense and our power as Israel's ally to do something?”

After Harris replied with typical liberal clichés about a two-state solution, Mosley tried again, “What levers does the U.S. have to support Palestinians in their right to self-determination? And is it even possible as Israel's ally?"

For her part, Harris hyped the administration’s desire that "there be no reoccupation of Gaza, that there be no changing of the territorial lines in Gaza."

 

 

Daniels still was not happy as he pressed, "Is there a specific policy change that you as president of the United States would say you would do that would help this along?”

After Harris dodged the question, Daniels also tried again, “But in the way we send weapons and the way we interact as their ally. Are there specific policy changes?”

 

 

 

This time Harris hyped Biden’s decision to suspend 2,000-pound bomb shipments, Daniels suggested that wasn’t good enough, “What do you say to those that say that's not enough? That stopping the 2,000-pound bombs, the one time, wasn't enough that this administration and your possible administration has to do more."

Switching gears, Gaynor asked about a proposal to create a reparations commission, “Would you as president take executive action to create this [reparations] commission?”

Harris danced around the specific issue, but said, “We just need to speak truth about history in spite of the fact some people are trying to erase history and trying to teach our children otherwise."

There was no fact-check of that from the stage. Ultimately, Harris would say Congress should tackle the issue.

 

 

Also avoiding a fact-check was Harris’s statement on JD Vance, Springfield, and bomb threats, “When you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a very deep level how much your words have meaning."

Switching gears yet again, Mosely lamented an assault weapons ban may be insufficient to solving crime in places like Philadelphia, “How will you address the issue of the use of handguns because a push for an assault weapons ban only addresses a significant but small part of the problem.”

Harris suggested the need for “universal background checks,” but Mosely was unconvinced, "In many instances, those handguns aren't even bought lawfully.”

 

 

Then a miracle happened as Daniels inquired about Harris’s abortion stance, “Do you similarly support also codifying Roe’s restrictions, which allowed states to ban abortion in the third trimester of pregnancy unless necessary to save the mother's life?"

Harris dodged the question and Gaynor got things back on the liberal tracks with the dumbest question of the session, "Republicans have at times weaponized you laughing in campaign ads, for example. Why is joy important to you to insert into this election and what do you make of Republicans using that as a way to suggest you're not a serious candidate?”

Daniels got the final question of the interview, and he wondered in the aftermath of the second assassination attempt on Trump, “Do you have full confidence in the Secret Service to protect all of you?"

 

 

Harris affirmed, “I do,” before going on a wild bender, “there are far too many people in our country right now who are not feeling safe. I mean, I look at Project 2025 and I look at, you know, the Don't Say Gay Laws coming out of Florida. Members of the LGBTQ community don't feel safe right now. Immigrants or people with an immigrant background don't feel safe right now. Women don't feel safe right now.”

 

 

After that crazy statement, Mosley brought the proceedings to a close, “Madam Vice President, thank you so much for your time,” as she naturally avoided fact-checking “Don’t Say Gay.”

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