On Friday, the “Big Three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC opened their flagship morning news shows by rhetorically gallivanting over Thursday night’s CNN exclusive interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) (after having not done an interview since President Biden was forced out).
ABC’s Good Morning America had their chief regime pillow fluffer, Mary Bruce, again do her best North Korean news lady impression, gushing over Harris as “methodical” and “defending her record with President Biden” in her first “in-depth interview...since she was catapulted to the top of the ticket”.
ABC's Mary Bruce Not being a Shill for the Biden-Harris Regime Challenge (Impossible) pic.twitter.com/0IKp3v0NfH
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 30, 2024
Over fracking and the border crisis, Bruce excused Harris’s waffling (especially on the former, which even drew a less-than-pleased fact-check from CNN’s Daniel Dale) (click “expand”):
BRUCE: Nearly six weeks into her campaign, Kamala Harris overnight forced to explain the policy shifts, but arguing one thing has not changed.
HARRIS: I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed.
BRUCE: Asked if she still wants to ban fracking, something she vowed in 2019, Harris saying this —
HARRIS: No, and I made that clear on the debate stage in 2020, that I would not ban fracking. As Vice President I did not ban fracking. As president, I will not ban fracking.
BRUCE: — and on whether she stands by her 2019 support for decriminalizing illegal border crossings.
HARRIS: I believe they should be consequence. We have laws that have to be followed and enforced, and let’s be clear, in this race I am the only person who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations, trafficking guns, drugs, and human beings. I’m the only person in this race who actually served a border state as attorney general to enforce our laws, and I would enforce our laws as president going forward. I recognize the problem.
CNN’s Dana Bash never followed up, so it was pathetic for Bruce to proclaim Walz was “forced us to explain with the Trump campaign has criticized as his misleading statements about his military service and his family struggle with infertility.”
Bruce even admitted Harris remained vague about what she’d do as president, but the Biden-Harris tool put a positive spin on it: “Harris is surging in the polls, narrowly leading Donald Trump nationally. Asked what she would do on day one, Harris light on specifics.”
Bruce added Harris was “adamant in defending her and Biden’s record on the economy, but concede[d]” that, in Harris’s words, “[t]here is more work to do.”
On NBC’s Today, co-host Craig Melvin also praised Bash by saying Harris “faced some tough questions about her change in policy positions.”
Senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez started with the admission that Harris was “under mounting pressure to take detailed questions”, but then went in spin mode, praising Harris for “[trying] to strike a balance between defending the Biden-Harris administration’s legacy while charting her own path” and “defend[ed] some of her shifting policy positions.”
Gutierrez brought up her supposed change of heart about decriminalizing the border, but took the approach of Bruce (and, as we’ll see, CBS’s Ed O’Keefe) by merely passing long that Harris “was also asked about her past positions on banning fracking” with a compilation of her varying takes, but nothing beyond that.
“Harris, who also rallied supporters in Savannah, Georgia is touting proposals to extend the child tax credit and give $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-time home buyers. So, why didn't she take those steps during her first three and a half years in office,” he wondered in a lead-in to sound of Harris saying she was “proud of the work” she and Biden “have done”.
Gutierrez also briefly walked viewers through Walz responding to the now-infamous line from his past about having carried “weapons in war” when he never served in combat.
Finally, CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil began the show by describing Harris as having “defended her evolving positions on a range of issues and responded to attacks from former President Donald Trump.”
“Look, this interview comes as voters are trying to learn more about Harris in this compressed timeframe. So, she explained some of her shifting positions,” said White House and campaign correspondent Ed O’Keefe.
O’Keefe brought up her walkback on decriminalizing the border and ridiculously claimed she “clarified” her position by stitching together parts of her mangled answer (click “expand”):
O’KEEFE: In her first TV interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Harris clarified why her position on some issues has shifted since she first ran for president in 2019. Initially, she opposed fracking, a key issue in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Then changed her stance.
HARRIS: In 2020, I made very clear where I stand. We are in 2024, and I’ve not changed that position nor will I going forward. [SCREEN WIPE] What I have seen is that we can grow and increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking.
O’KEEFE: On immigration in 2019, she supported decriminalizing the southern border. Now?
HARRIS: I believe there should be consequence. We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally.
To see the relevant transcript from August 30, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (fro NBC).
