Someone might need to tell CNN host Jake Tapper that President-elect Biden had already nominated a press secretary (and who happens to be a former colleague of said anchorman). Because given his quips about Biden’s protective boot and playful questions about what Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would call her husband once in office, Tapper’s Thursday interview came off as beyond softball. And for most of the time, he was probing them from the left.
Tapper kicked off his hard-hitting questioning with this zinger about the boot Biden needed to wear after breaking his foot playing with his dog:
TAPPER: Before we get started, you're not wearing your big boot anymore but you have your --
BIDEN: Well, I wear the big boot most of the time, but when coming out here it's just kind of clumsy, so they gave me this little thing to work.
TAPPER: How is your foot and what happened?
A better question Tapper could have asked would’ve been about why Biden refused to allow the press pool to see him exit the hospital. Instead, the only video of his release came from someone watching at a distance.
A few minutes later, Tapper bizarrely deviated from a question about Biden selecting one of his toughest primary competitors as his running mate to what title Harris would give her husband Doug Emhoff, second gentleman or second dude (Click “expand”):
TAPPER: [B]y the way, is he the second gentleman? Is he the second dude? What should – what should we be calling him?
KAMALA HARRIS: [Laughter] Well, I think that the term has evolved into the second gentleman.
TAPPER: The second gentleman.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
TAPPER: I like second dude, but I will defer.
HARRIS: I think some of his friends are inclined to say that.
Tapper was content with her calling him “honey.”
One of the questions Tapper likely thought was a toughie was designed to press Biden on filling his cabinet with more people form the far-left. “Last month Senator Bernie Sanders told the Associated Press it would be, ‘Enormously insulting’ if your cabinet, the Biden-Harris cabinet, ignored progressive voices. Who would you point to now as a leading progressive voice in the cabinet,” he asked.
That question led to a strange interaction where Harris appeared to think Tapper was asking for a job interview, and she asked if he was a “progressive.” Biden would chime in moments later and seemed to forget the name of the guy he nominated to lead the Department of Homeland Security (Alejandro Mayorkas).
Here was that interaction (click “expand”):
HARRIS: Well we're not done yet, Jake. So, we're not even halfway there. So, I think we should have this conversation when we're done. But--
TAPPER: Is that another interview offer you're making because I'll take it?
HARRIS: Do you consider yourself a progressive? [Laughter]
TAPPER: No.
BIDEN: Department of Homeland Security. Many people are progressive.
TAPPER: Homeland Security?
BIDEN: Yeah. No, I'm serious.
TAPPER: He's a Progressive?
BIDEN: Yeah.
The only time Tapper showed negative emotions during the interview was when he was huffing about Biden’s optimism about being able to work with Republicans. “Why have you not yet spoken with McConnell, and how can you be optimistic about working with a group of individuals who have not even yet acknowledged that you're the President-elect,” he wanted to know.
Towards the end of the interview, Tapper pressed the duo on how Harris wanted President Trump prosecuted immediately but Biden wouldn’t order the Department of Justice to specifically go after Trump:
During the primary last year, Madam Vice President-elect, you told NPR that the Justice Department, quote, "Would have no choice but to prosecute President Trump" and that, quote, "There has to be accountability." How does that square with what the President-Elect just said about not telling the Justice Department to go after individuals?
Tapper wrapped up the interview by weakly asking Biden what was going through his mind. What a tall order.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
The Joe Biden & Kamala Harris Interview: A CNN Special Event
December 3, 2020
9:01:46 p.m. Eastern(…)
JAKE TAPPER: Before we get started, you're not wearing your big boot anymore but you have your --
JOE BIDEN: Well, I wear the big boot most of the time, but when coming out here it's just kind of clumsy, so they gave me this little thing to work.
TAPPER: How is your foot and what happened?
(…)
9:19:26 p.m. Eastern
TAPPER: What has been -- she was one of your fiercest competitors in the early days of the primary, and now she and Doug Emhoff – which, by the way, is he the second gentleman? Is he the second dude? What should – what should we be calling him?
KAMALA HARRIS: [Laughter] Well, I think that the term has evolved into the second gentleman.
TAPPER: The second gentleman.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
TAPPER: I like second dude, but I will defer.
HARRIS: I think some of his friends are inclined to say that. [Laughter]
TAPPER: But you'll call him the second gentleman?
HARRIS: No, I'll call him honey.
TAPPER: You'll call him honey.
[Laughter]
TAPPER: Okay.
(…)
9:23:47 p.m. Eastern
TAPPER: Last month Senator Bernie Sanders told the Associated Press it would be, quote, "Enormously insulting" if your cabinet, the Biden-Harris cabinet, ignored progressive voices. Who would you point to now as a leading progressive voice in the cabinet?
HARRIS: Well we're not done yet, Jake. So, we're not even halfway there. So, I think we should have this conversation when we're done. But--
TAPPER: Is that another interview offer you're making because I'll take it?
HARRIS: Do you consider yourself a progressive? [Laughter]
TAPPER: No.
BIDEN: Department of Homeland Security. Many people are progressive.
TAPPER: Homeland Security?
BIDEN: Yeah. No, I'm serious.
TAPPER: He's a Progressive?
BIDEN: Yeah. And there's a number of Progressives that are –
(…)
9:25:10 p.m. Eastern
TAPPER: When you take office, the Senate will either be 50-50 -- that's best case for you -- or controls by Republicans. Many Republican senators including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have not even yet called you to congratulate you or said publicly that you are the President-elect, just acknowledge basic reality. You have retained and remained optimistic about your ability to work with McConnell.
Why have you not yet spoken with McConnell, and how can you be optimistic about working with a group of individuals who have not even yet acknowledged that you're the President-elect?
BIDEN: I say this tactfully.
TAPPER: You don't have to be tactful.
BIDEN: No, I do, because I don't want -- there have been more than several sitting Republican Senators who've privately called me and congratulated me. And I understand the situation they find themselves in.
(…)
9:42:40 p.m. Eastern
TAPPER: During the primary last year, Madam Vice President-elect, you told NPR that the Justice Department, quote, "Would have no choice but to prosecute President Trump" and that, quote, "There has to be accountability."
How does that square with what the President-Elect just said about not telling the Justice Department to go after individuals?
(…)
