CNN’s Laura Coates joined radio host Buck Sexton on Friday’s edition of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO to try to figure out why Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign are struggling. Sexton naturally suggested it was because people associate her with the failures of the Biden Administration, but Coates claimed it was because she is a “woman of color” in a society that “has elevated white men.”
Maher began by wondering, “This week, she did a media blitz of, she went to Howard Stern and Stephen Colbert and The View, places where, you know, I would say the ass is pre-kissed… Did that help or hurt?”
Sexton claimed it was the latter, “I think Kamala Harris just had the worst week of her campaign so far, and it has been trending downward for quite some time now.”
He went on to explain that Harris has a big problem:
Kamala Harris has to explain, while she's a part of the Biden administration, second in command, you had some of the worst statistics you could possibly have as a politician… worst inflation in 40 years while Biden is president. First time you have over 100,000 opioid deaths while Biden was president. Probably the worst open border in the history of the country, 8 million, at least, and that’s not including the half a million a year who are got aways, so roughly 10 million people, we could call it, in four years entering illegally, almost all of whom are going to stay.
As for Coates, she began, “Well, my ass has never been kissed.”
Okay, but well before Harris’s recent round of softballs, there was Coates’s January interview, where she told Harris she was “struck” that Republicans would cite her as a reason to vote against Biden.
After some commotion, Coates got more somber, “I think what weighs Kamala Harris down are two things that are obvious and distinguishes her from a Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden or even a Barack Obama. This is a woman of color in a society that has, as your -- just talked about, has elevated white men historically, consistently, presently, and they believe in the future as well.”
Coates added, “I think those two things really can have an impact on how the electorate sees her and the viability of a woman in office, a woman at the helm, talking about global politics, people will say, ‘What would another country feel about a woman leader because there’s never been one' and so those two things don’t give her wings, they give her anchors, it's her job to elevate it.”
Harris’s real anchor is not only Biden’s record, it is her history of being a far-left senator and presidential candidate. She can try to portray herself as a moderate, but she has no history of being one, so people simply don’t believe her.
Here is a transcript for the October 11 show:
HBO Real Time with Bill Maher
10/11/2024
10:20 PM ET
BILL MAHER: This week, she did a media blitz of, she went to Howard Stern and Stephen Colbert and The View, places where, you know, I would say the ass is pre-kissed. Am I wrong?
BUCK SEXTON: No. No.
MAHER: Did that help or hurt?
SEXTON: No, I think Kamala Harris just had the worst week of her campaign so far, and it has been trending downward for quite some time now. Donald Trump, at this point, I think, is very likely to--almost certain to win the election and I appreciate the opportunity to tell people why – I’ll remember that by the way – Why that is. I think there are two things that are weighing her down. First of all, what led up to her campaign, just, and I'll give a quick, I know it's four years, but I'l give a quick version of it.
Kamala Harris has to explain, while she's a part of the Biden administration, second in command, you had some of the worst statistics you could possibly have as a politician. Worst, hold on, I'm going to get there, worst inflation in 40 years while Biden is president. First time you have over 100,000 opioid deaths while Biden was president. Probably the worst open border in the history of the country, 8 million, at least, and that’s not including the half a million a year who are got aways, so roughly 10 million people, we could call it, in four years entering illegally, almost all of whom are going to stay.
Now, She doesn't want to throw Biden under the bus for this and she didn't want to tell everybody that he's a dementia patient. So, she decided she was going to go along -- it's just the facts everybody, you can get mad at me. She decided she was going to go along with this until it was no longer possible because of the debate and that's what she inherited. I haven't gotten to her campaign yet, but I can.
MAHER: All right.
LAURA COATES: Well, my ass has never been kissed.
MAHER: Well.
COATES: Let’s move on, Bill, shall we.
MAHER: I said “pre-kissed.”
COATES: It's been "pre-kissed," Okay, it’s funny when you speak in hyperboles, I think the electorate begins to distance themselves because they cannot essentially believe -- terms like “this is the worst it's ever been” when they've known the history of the country. It’s difficult for the ones left behind.
I think what weighs Kamala Harris down are two things that are obvious and distinguishes her from a Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden or even a Barack Obama. This is a woman of color in a society that has, as your -- just talked about, has elevated white men historically, consistently, presently, and they believe in the future as well.
And I think those two things really can have an impact on how the electorate sees her and the viability of a woman in office, a woman at the helm, talking about global politics, people will say, “What would another country feel about a woman leader because there’s never been one” and so those two things don’t give her wings, they give her anchors, it's her job to elevate it.
