Advertisement
OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
CNN’s Dana Bash warned that voters who weren’t sure about voting at Wednesday’s town hall meeting said Vice President Kamala Harris failed to “close the deal,” and she agreed that the Democratic nominee didn’t “necessarily” answer questions “about her legislative priorities.”
At a Pennsylvania town hall in a swing state, Harris answered questions about the economy and immigration from CNN host Anderson Cooper as well as undecided voters.
One awkward moment was caught on camera immediately after the town hall when Harris walked off stage and got face-to-face with a woman in the audience who had asked a question at the event.
The cameras caught the bizarre moment when they were panning out of the event and preparing to air CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, who were less than pleased with Harris’s performance on Wednesday night.
WATCH:
CNN’s Jake Tapper on Kamala Harris’s townhall:
“She focused a lot more on Donald Trump than she did on many specifics in terms of what she would do.” pic.twitter.com/6dEtd0Jeos
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) October 24, 2024
Advertisement
Bash began her conversation with Tapper after the event by outlining what she had heard from sources who had been present.
Bash said: “Well, I’ll just tell you what I‘m hearing from people who I have been talking to, and that is that if her goal was to close the deal, they‘re not sure she did that. And, you know, some people have asked, is she being held to a different standard? Maybe. But that‘s maybe the world that she‘s living in. And on the question of who she is, people are understanding that a little bit more.”
She continued: “But what she will do? The question about her legislative priorities name one – there wasn‘t one. You know, some more of her personality and her sort of character questions about your weaknesses or what mistakes did you make, not necessarily the answers there.”
Another brutal moment came when Cooper asked Harris why she had not implemented any of her own plans or policies since she’s been in office for nearly four years.
Cooper asked, “Some voters, though, might ask, you’ve been in the White House for for four years, you were vice president, not the president. But why wasn’t any of that done over the last four years?”
Harris replied, “Well, there was a lot that was done, but there’s more to do, Anderson. And I’m pointing out things that need to be done that haven’t been done but need to be done.”
WATCH:
Cooper TORCHES Kamala, asks her why she did not implement ANY of her plans as the sitting Vice President:
Harris: “Well, there is a lot that was done, but there is more to do, and I am pointing out things that need to be done, that haven’t been done, that need to be done.” pic.twitter.com/qvcjqQSxSe
— Martin Walsh (@MWalshUS) October 24, 2024
The town hall comes as Harris’s team is worried about the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, which have provided the road to the White House for the last few elections.
Harris’s team also worries that North Carolina has “slipped away.”
“Recent discussions have centered on the possibility of an anomaly this year with just part of the blue wall breaking its way. The conversations have focused on whether Michigan or Wisconsin “fall” to former President Donald Trump while the two other states go blue, according to three sources with knowledge of the campaign’s strategy,” NBC News reported.
“Losing Wisconsin or Michigan would mean that even if Harris secures Pennsylvania — where both Harris and Trump have spent the most time and resources — she would not reach the necessary 270 electoral votes to win the White House without winning another battleground state or possibly two,” the outlet added.
“There has been a thought that maybe Michigan or Wisconsin will fall off,” said a senior Harris campaign official, who stressed that the bigger concern is over Michigan.
Two other campaign strategists—who, like others in this piece, were granted anonymity to talk freely—expressed great concern about Michigan. They continue to believe that all states are near and that there are alternate paths to victory.
“Of all of the seven [states], that one seems to be a little bit slipping away,” the Harris campaign official said of North Carolina.