Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with ABC, NBC, and CBS on Friday to recap President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address and discuss the campaign. While all three networks condensed the interviews for their respective nightly news shows, ABC’s World News Tonight edits were the most sympathetic to Harris.
Of all the questions chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce asked, only two made it into the program. The first invited Harris to explain to viewers how wonderful she is, “We’ve seen this argument over and over again from Republicans that the candidate they are really running against is you, that given the president's age, there is a chance that you may have to take over for him. What do you say to voters who are sold on the president but may not be sold on you about this potential possibility?”
For her part, Harris spun that such fears are not necessary, “I think what we saw in President Joe Biden is somebody who's prepared to take on a second term and do it with passion and do it with vigor. If necessary, which will not be the case, I am ready. But the bottom line is, our president is full of vigor and passion and perspective to take on another term. And I'm standing right with him.”
The only other question Bruce asked was “whether the president would debate Trump,” to which Harris was noncommittal.
Whatever the combination of time limitations and a desire not to embarrass their White House correspondent, ABC did not show the portion that aired earlier on their streaming show ABC News Live where Bruce sounded like a far-left progressive activist on the border, “Republicans argue that you’re ignoring the issue of migrants and crime, the president did address this last night, but in an off-script moment, he said that an illegal was responsible for killing a student. Were you comfortable with the use of that term?”
Harris danced around the question, but over at NBC Nightly News, chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander began by asking similar softballs, “Did he answer those questions last night?” and “We also asked about Republican criticism of her readiness for the job.”
However, Alexander did ask about more than just readiness, as he reported, “Republicans say President Biden could solve the [border] crisis on his own by executive order.”
He then wondered, “Given the Republicans aren't going to fix those problems with Democrats, why not do it by executive order?”
Harris evaded the question, blaming Donald Trump and Republicans for the lack of a border bill.
Meanwhile, at CBS Evening News, the only portion of chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes’s interview with Harris was included as part of a larger Weija Jiang report on Israel and Gaza. Cordes was referencing Biden’s hot mic moment with Sen. Michael Bennet that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were going to have a “come to Jesus moment,” when she asked, “Are the Israelis at risk of using U.S. aid if this continues?”
Sticking with tradition, Harris didn’t exactly answer the question. “We always have to stand for the security of Israel and its people, and also to do what we have done behind closed doors and in public around forcing a better path forward in terms of what is happening currently in Gaza.”
Speaking of Gaza, of the three networks, only NBC showed more of the original interview on Saturday when Alexander was shown asking on Today “What do you say to those Democrats who are demanding a permanent ceasefire?”
Here are transcripts for the March 8 shows:
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir
3/8/2024
6:39 PM ET
MARY BRUCE: We’ve seen this argument over and over again from Republicans that the candidate they are really running against is you, that given the president's age, there is a chance that you may have to take over for him. What do you say to voters who are sold on the president but may not be sold on you about this potential possibility?
KAMALA HARRIS: Well, first of all, I think what we saw in President Joe Biden is somebody who's prepared to take on a second term and do it with passion and do it with vigor. If necessary, which will not be the case, I am ready. But the bottom line is, our president is full of vigor and passion and perspective to take on another term. And I'm standing right with him.
BRUCE: I also asked her whether the president would debate Trump.
HARRIS: We'll get to that at some point, and we'll deal with that.
***
ABC News Live
3/8/2024
12:04 PM ET
MARY BRUCE: Republicans argue that you’re ignoring the issue of migrants and crime, the president did address this last night, but in an off-script moment, he said that an illegal was responsible for killing a student. Were you comfortable with the use of that term?
KAMALA HARRIS: Well, I was there as you and it was a pretty chaotic scene in terms of cross-talking that was happening in the room, but I think the president really did an important point that that he wanted to make, which was to express his empathy with the family of that victim and, to let them know that he understood their pain and that there should be accountability.
***
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
6:33 PM ET
3/8/2024
PETER ALEXANDER: Vice President Kamala Harris tonight insists the president put to rest voter concerns the 81-year-old is too old for another term.
Did he answer those questions last night?
KAMALA HARRIS: He was absolutely on fire and he answered any question that anyone might have.
ALEXANDER: We also asked about Republican criticism of her readiness for the job.
HARRIS: Listen, as it relates to me, I'm ready if necessary but it's not going to be necessary.
ALEXANDER: The president vowing to protect abortion rights.
JOE BIDEN: When reproductive freedom was on the ballot we won in 2022 and 2020 and we'll win again in 2024.
ALEXANDER: And slamming Republicans for rejecting a bipartisan border security bill at the urging of Mr. Trump. Republicans say President Biden could solve the crisis on his own by executive order.
HARRIS: The former president told the leadership of the Republican Party in Congress "don't put it on the floor for a vote" because he had been very unapologetic and clear, he'd prefer to run on a problem instead of fix a problem.
ALEXANDER: Given the Republicans aren't going to fix those problems with Democrats why not do it by executive order?
HARRIS: The American people deserve leadership that's about fixing problems. And that's why he's going to lose in November… We have a lot of work to be done, but let us not negate the role and responsibility of leaders in Congress.
***
CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell
3/9/2024
6:37 PM ET
WEIJIA JIANG: Nancy Cordes asked Vice President Kamala Harris about the tension.
NANCY CORDES: Are the Israelis at risk of using U.S. aid if this continues?
KAMALA HARRIS: We always have to stand for the security of Israel and its people, and also to do what we have done behind closed doors and in public around forcing a better path forward in terms of what is happening currently in Gaza.
