ABC News Live Guest: Kamala ‘Trust[s] the Journalists to Explain These Policies’ for Her

Curtis Houck
August 19th, 2024 1:10 PM

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A remarkable moment occurred Monday morning on ABC News Live when 2024 Democratic National Convention delegate and Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff praised Vice President Kamala Harris for having little to no official policy positions because “[t]he more details you share, the more your policies are going to get picked apart,” and thus it’s best for her to “trust” the news media “to explain these policies...to folks”.

Shroff also made a fool out of himself when he drew of the ire of host Diane Macedo for insisting Harris’s off-the-record pow-wows with reporters on campaign planes make formal interviews and press conferences unnecessary and demanding those are a “unfair” burden.

The first jaw-dropper was unprompted as all Macedo had asked was “what do...Harris and Walz need to do over the next four days to try to convince voters that they can solve these problems” such as the economy, the border, and crime.

Shroff took the approach of those lefty tools who think the corporate media are actually biased toward Republicans, whining that “when the national polls show the Democratic nominee ahead, we talk about other polls that show something else” even though the focus should be on how polls “show[ing] that Vice President Harris is poised to defeat Donald Trump pretty handily.”

He then dropped the humdinger saying the quiet part out loud that the liberal media will do Harris’s job for her:

I think Vice President Harris has been incredibly brave to roll out an ambitious economic agenda because we all know how this works. The more details you share, the more your policies are going to get picked apart. But she’s saying, I trust the American people, I trust the journalists, to explain these policies and our values to folks. And I think when that happens, it will be successful for Democrats. These are very pro-worker, pro-middle class that people have been waiting for. 

For good measure, he threw in some talking points about Trump’s views being based on “side deals and backdoor agreements with his billionaire friends.”

A few minutes later, Macedo asked Shroff “to respond to the fact that Harris has not done a lot of unscripted events” and “been called on by many to do more press conferences, to do more interviews.”

Shroff had the gall to insist everyone settle down because this week “is the big rollout...to talk about her policies, her vision, her agenda”, but Macedo wasn’t amused: “But it’s not the same as a press conference or an interview where she has to answer direct questions.”

He piled on by claiming the press are in the tank for Trump against Harris. His evidence? How one person at Trump’s 84-minute press conference on Thursday lobbed a softball asking whether he believes God saved him from death in the attempted assassination.

To her credit, Macedo didn’t take too kindly to this nonsense, including Shroff’s defense that secret, off-the-record meetings Harris does with the press should be good enough for the American people (click “expand”):

SHROFF: [W]ell, I mean, I don’t know, because when Trump holds those pressers, it’s your colleagues in media ask him, Trump, why did God save you? I mean, these are not serious questions that help the American people —

MACEDO: You know that he’s asked a wide range of questions —

ALFONSO AGUILAR: Of course not.

SHROFF: — so I think that’s one point. But that’s false. I do want to fact-check.

MACEDO: — and he has to answer many.

SHROFF: Fact-check!

MACEDO: So, so —

SHROFF: She will — she will answer questions.

MACEDO: — but just answer me that. Do you think she needs to do more unscripted events where she to answer —

SHROFF: She is!

MACEDO: — direct questions? 

SHROFF: She is doing a lot of — and — 

MACEDO: She’s doing a lot of speeches. 

SHROFF: — conversations with reporters.

MACEDO: That’s not the same thing.

SHROFF: She’s talking to people. She’s talking to reporters on her plane and all of that stuff. It’s been widely reported, but just a fact check. She has not proposed price fixing and that’s a lie. She’s — supported legislation against price gouging, which is very different, and some antitrust things. And then on the border, actually, daily border crossings are lower today than they were at the end of the Trump administration. 

Shroff kept talking so he could run out the clock on the segment. He sure filled it with more argle-bargle falsely claiming “[s]he’s been doing a ton of media” and, even then, “[t]he reality is the media landscape has changed,” so “[i]t’s not the Democratic nominee’s job to make sure legacy media is staying afloat when the models are changing and I think that’s a very unfair lens to place on this election.”

To see the relevant transcript from August 19, click “expand.”

ABC News Live
August 19, 2024
10:10 a.m. Eastern

DIANNE MACEDO: Kavian, to Alfonso’s point, the latest poll numbers do show former President Trump leading Harris on the economy, on inflation, on immigration. So what do Democrats in particularly Harris and Walz need to do over the next four days to try to convince voters that they can solve these problems?

KAIVAN SHROFF: There’s an interesting pattern that it seems when the national polls show the Democratic nominee ahead, we talk about other polls that show something else. So, I do think we’ve seen a lot of polling this week and last week and the week before that actually show that Vice President Harris is poised to defeat Donald Trump pretty handily because this campaign is strong and the energy and momentum is electric. I mean, I actually had a friend, the creator, give me one of these Taylor Swift-style bracelets yesterday. That’s the energy people are bringing to this DNC. And I think on the other side, you do look at Trump and Vance and, my colleague, with respect, says that they’re going to bring down inflation, says they’re going to deal with the border, but they never did it. And also, he can’t articulate what the actual policies Trump is suggesting are because they’re not talking about policy. In fact, I think Vice President Harris has been incredibly brave to roll out an ambitious economic agenda because we all know how this works. The more details you share, the more your policies are going to get picked apart. But she’s saying, I trust the American people, I trust the journalists, to explain these policies and our values to folks. And I think when that happens, it will be successful for Democrats. These are very pro-worker, pro-middle class that people have been waiting for. Meanwhile, Trump is running on these side deals and backdoor agreements with his billionaire friends to, you know, oppress the working class further and enrich them further. So I think it’s not an appealing message on the Republican side.

MACEDO: And, Kavian, just be clear, we have reported at length about the polling numbers about Harris pulling ahead in general, and we participated —

SHROFF: Okay, next time I’m on.

MACEDO: — in that poll that you’re referring to. And that was part of this same poll that we also reported on.

SHROFF: Yeah, right.

MACEDO: So we are talking about all of those numbers.

(....)

10:15 a.m. Eastern

MACEDO: Kavian, I want to give you a quick chance to respond to that. But I do also want to ask you and we are out of time, but I just want to give you a minute on this — give you a chance to respond, but also to respond to the fact that Harris has not done a lot of unscripted events. She has been called on by many to do more press conferences, to do more interviews. What do you say to that?

SHROFF: Well, I think people should watch this week, right? This is the big launch. This is the big rollout. This is where she’s going to talk about her policies, her vision, her agenda, and then — 

MACEDO: But it’s not the same as a press conference or an interview —

SHROFF: — she can come back to —

MACEDO: — where she has to answer direct questions.

SHROFF: — well, I mean, I don’t know, because when Trump holds those pressers, it’s your colleagues in media ask him, Trump, why did God save you? I mean, these are not serious questions that help the American people —

MACEDO: You know that he’s asked a wide range of questions —

ALFONSO AGUILAR: Of course not.

SHROFF: — so I think that’s one point. But that’s false. I do want to fact-check.

MACEDO: — and he has to answer many.

SHROFF: Fact-check!

MACEDO: So, so —

SHROFF: She will She will answer questions.

MACEDO: — but just answer me that. Do you think she needs to do more unscripted events where she to answer —

SHROFF: She is!

MACEDO: — direct questions? 

SHROFF: She is doing a lot of — and — 

MACEDO: She’s doing a lot of speeches. 

SHROFF: — conversations with reporters.

MACEDO: That’s not the same thing.

SHROFF: She’s talking to people. She’s talking to reporters on her plane and all of that stuff. It’s been widely reported, but just a fact check. She has not proposed price fixing and that’s a lie. She’s — supported legislation against price gouging, which is very different, and some antitrust things. And then on the border, actually, daily border crossings are lower today than they were at the end of the Trump administration. So, both lies coming from my colleague there. 

AGUILAR: No, no, no. 

SHROFF: And in terms of what she needs to comment on. She’s been doing a ton of media. The reality is the media landscape has changed. It’s not the Democratic nominee’s job to make sure legacy media is staying afloat when the models are changing And I think that’s a very unfair lens to place on this election. I mean, Donald is not really campaigning in full. So, you know, she’s introducing herself to the American people, holding these rallies. She’s had a record short amount time to get this campaign off the ground and here we are at the DNC. So, sure, if she doesn’t give those interviews you’re talking about in the coming months, I do think would be unacceptable, but I know that’s not going to happen, so I think it’s really a moot point.

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