Democratic presidential candidate US Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, disembark from their campaign bus in Savannah, Georgia, on August 28, 2024, as they travel across Georgia for a 2-day campaign bus tour. | Source: SAUL LOEB / Getty
All political eyes were on Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday night when her first joint interview with running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz aired on CNN. And those eyes likely squinted a bit when CNN’s chief political correspondent and anchor Dana Bash asked Harris to address how Donald Trump questioned her Blackness and racial identity last month.
Harris’ answer to what critics derided as an irrelevant question centering Trump resulted in rousing praise on social media for the vice president from viewers who ripped Bash for even asking it in the first place.
In case you missed it, Bash early in the interview asked Harris about her reaction to Trump’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago during which he falsely claimed that Harris “happened to turn Black” and suppressed her Indian heritage when she entered national politics.
Bash’s question lent credence to a preposterous and easily irrefutable allegation.
Upon hearing it, a wry smile crept across the face of Harris, an HBCU graduate whose father is a Black Jamaican man. She then quickly shook her head and shrugged before refusing to dignify it with an answer instead of taking the obvious race-baiting laid by Bash.
“Same old tired playbook,” Harris said to Bash.
“Next question, please,” Harris added through knowing laughs.
Bash tried to get Harris to say more.
“That’s it?” Bashed asked.
“That’s it,” Harris quickly responded, almost daring Bash to dig deeper.
But the implication was clear — Harris would not field any frivolous questions about Trump, or race, that have nothing to do with her vision as president for the American people.
The reaction to that portion of the interview was swift on social media.
“Deflecting hate with grace and focus,” one post on X, formerly Twitter wrote. “Well said!”
Another praised Harris as “classy” and “Very presidential” for how she navigated that potential landmine of a question.
Well done,” another post wrote. “Don’t even dignify that with a response. Shows you controlling the narrative instead of Bash or Trump.”
Later in the interview, Bash tried to bait Harris with another question in which the topics of race and gender were implied.
Referring to what’s become an iconic photograph taken during Harris’ historic speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention last week, Bash tried in vain to get Harris to talk about the prospects of becoming the first woman and first Black and Asian president of the United States.
“I am running because I believe that I am the best person to do this job at this moment for all Americans, regardless of race and gender,” Harris told Bash matter-of-factly before talking about the photograph showing her young grandniece watching her speech in Chicago.
“I did see that photograph,” Harris added. “And I was deeply touched by it. And, you’re right, she’s — it’s the back of her head, and her two little braids, and — and then I’m in the front of the photograph, obviously speaking. It’s very humbling.”
In other key moments from the CNN interview on Thursday night, Harris made the case to “turn the page” on the Trump “era,” restated her positions on a number of key issues like immigration, lammed Trump’s economic record as president, and laid out the priorities for “Day One” of her own presidency.
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