New York Times Columnist Pans Kamala Harris For ‘Vague, Vacuous’ First Interview

New York Times opinion columnist Bret Stephens panned Vice President Kamala Harris as “vague to the point of vacuous” in a simmering Friday editorial that took aim at the Democratic nominee, her running mate Tim Walz , and journalist Dana Bash following Thursday’s CNN interview.

While he acknowledged that Harris came across as “warm, relatable” and “likable enough” he lamented that although she “didn’t hurt herself” she “didn’t particularly help herself, either.”

Most of the column space was dedicated to arguing that Harris “struggled to give straight answers to her shifting positions. ”

He wrote: “She evaded the question of why it took the Biden administration more than three years to gain better control of the border, which it ultimately did through an executive order that could have been in place years earlier. It also didn’t answer the question of why she reversed her former policy positions — or whether she has higher values other than political expediency.”

Harris did score some points with Stephens for her line of attack against former President Donald Trump , where she contrasted leaders who measure their strength by whom they “beat down” versus those who measure it by whom they “lift up.” However, Stephens remained unconvinced that this would be enough to sway voters.

Next in the firing line, Walz’s presence was branded Harris’s “biggest weakness.” The columnist accused the governor of being “transparently evasive” in response to questions about his past misstatements relating to his military record and DUI arrest, raising concerns about the potential damage to the campaign if similar “lies or untruths in Walz’s record” are tested.

After complimenting Bash as “intelligent and insistent,” Stephens knocked the interview itself for “too much fluff” — concluding with a blunt appeal: “Tougher questions next time, please.”