Kamala Harris responded to Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of a planned 60 Minutes interview by encouraging voters to watch his rallies instead.
The vice president didn’t want viewers to miss out after Trump canceled the sit-down, unhappy with the CBS News show’s fact-checking requirements.
While it was hardly the normal recommendation for a White House nominee caught up in a tight race to the finish, Harris apparently thought that the more voters listened to Trump, the more likely they were to vote for her on November 5.
“If he is not gonna give your viewers the ability to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question and answer with you, then watch his rallies,” Harris told 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker. “You’re gonna hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances, and what you will not hear is anything about you, the listener,” she added.
“You will not hear about how he is gonna try to bring the country together, find common ground, and, Bill, that is why I believe in my soul and heart, the American people are ready to turn the page.”
At a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday, Trump criticized the number of interviews his Democratic opponent has given since becoming the nominee and defended his decision to skip the CBS appearance. He said he was unhappy with the network’s coverage of a story about Hunter Biden’s laptop during the 2020 campaign.
Harris’ decision to appear on 60 Minutes marked a strategic change in her campaign’s media policy. Up until Monday night, Harris had largely avoided interviews where she could be asked difficult questions, appearing with Oprah Winfrey, on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, and in other situations where she wouldn’t be put on the spot.
On Monday, she swatted away questions about border control and immigration, taxes, and whether Ukraine should be a member of NATO, all potential lightning rods.
On potentially the most contentious issue for Harris, Whitaker asked her: “Was it a mistake to loosen the immigration policies as much as you did?”
“It’s a long-standing problem,” she replied, “And solutions are at hand, and from day one, literally, we have been offering solutions.”
She refused to concede the Biden administration had botched the protection of the nation’s borders with any policy mistake, adding: “Because of what we have done, we have cut the flow of illegal immigration by half, but we need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem.”
