Kamala Harris finally gives interview – but needs her emotional support pet Tim Walz

US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz will give an interview to CNN on Friday AEST.

Some people have emotional support pets, others governors of small left-wing states.

After five and a half weeks of campaigning for the presidency, Kamala Harris has finally agreed to give a sit down interview, slated for Thursday night 9pm (Friday 11am AEST).

But it’s not in the form most had hoped – a hard-nosed, live interrogation by a fiercely critical network, but with CNN, prerecorded, and with Minnesota governor Tim Walz, her vice presidential running mate, sitting next to her the whole time.

Ever since she took the reins as the party’s leader on July 21, Republicans and some media have rightly demanded she submit to some fourth estate scrutiny.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz board Air Force Two. Picture: AFP.

Why does she now support a border wall she once dubbed “medieval”? Why is she now an advocate for fracking after stating “there is no question I’m in favour of banning fracking”? Why is there still not a single policy listed on www.kamalaharris.com?

After her campaign reportedly reached out to mainstream journalists to determine who might be the best fit for this critical exchange, Harris settled on CNN’s Dana Bash, who independent journalist Glen Greenwald, reflecting a widely held view, has dubbed a Democrat party “sycophant”.

Social media erupted in mockery. “Harris bringing Walz to her first interview is like the young job candidates who bring their parents to their first interview,” said author Carol Roth.

Kamala Harris bringing Walz to her first interview is like the young job candidates who bring their parents to their first interview.

I wouldn’t hire either.

— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) August 27, 2024

Conservatives were even harsher: “Harris is too stupid to handle an interview by herself — even an interview with throne-sniffing regime media — so she has to bring along an emotional support pet with her for help. How embarrassing and disqualifying,” fumed Sean Davis, chief executive of the conservative Federalist organisation, in a post on social media.

BREAKING: I’ve obtained an exclusive image of Kamala Harris walking into CNN’s studios for her pretaped interview with Dana Bash. pic.twitter.com/HhwfwGwHZo

— Free (@KaladinFree) August 28, 2024

On August 8 in some rare unscripted remarks, to reporters waiting near her plane, she undertook to “to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.”

If Harris wanted to technically fulfil her promise, while minimising the chance she would have to respond to difficult questions, she’s chosen well. The loquacious Walz will presumably take up half the time.

Harris has avoided an interview for so long not for being too busy – her official schedule has frequently shown significant gaps – but to avoid having to face tough questions.

Her last memorable appearance with a friendly mainstream anchor, in 2021 with NBC’s Lester Holt, went pear shaped after he challenged her failure to visit the US border with Mexico amid a surge in unauthorised arrivals, an area of policy Biden had specifically tasked her to oversee.

“And I haven’t been to Europe. And I mean, I don’t – I don’t understand the point that you’re making,” she said.

Republicans, who from Donald Trump down have lambasted Harris’s refusal to face questions as a sign of weakness, will be hoping for a repeat.

Democrats shifted from a candidate incapable of giving an interview, Joe Biden, to someone who has refused to; whether for reasons of strategy or competence, time will tell.

Whatever you think of Donald Trump, he’s recently been giving numerous press conferences, taking questions from hostile reporters, and given long wide ranging interviews, including one recently on drug and alcohol abuse with podcaster Theo Von, and another with celebrity Dr Phil, in which he suggested he survived last month’s assassination attempt because God believed he has a purpose to “save America” and maybe the world.

To be fair Harris’s strategy has been working: she’s leading Trump in national polls, and punters rate her as more likely to win in November, albeit by a slender margin.

That might change if Harris fumbles Thursday’s appearance, although she’d have a chance to redeem herself on September 10, when she faces off against Donald Trump one-on-one, the only debate scheduled between the pair so far.