Harris-Walz interview delivers CNN a ratings slam dunk

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s first televised interview since becoming the Democratic nominees gave CNN a huge ratings boom.

The interview, airing on the cable network and online on Max, drew in an average of 5.987 million viewers during its 45-minute run, per Nielsen data, trouncing programming on rival networks Fox News and MSNBC, which drew fewer viewers combined.

The ratings bump was CNN’s second major programming event of the summer, after a presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, which drew 47.9 million viewers, a 20-year debate low.

Harris and Walz were touring rural Georgia on a campaign bus Thursday following the Democratic National Convention, during which Harris saw a ratings victory, drawing in 26.2 million viewers to her acceptance speech, nearly a million more than Trump’s RNC address.

During the interview, CNN’s Dana Bash pressed Harris on her past policy changes and racial identity, echoing attacks lobbed at the vice president from the Trump campaign, but largely avoided giving the duo a chance to answer on substantive policy questions.

Harris spoke about the moment in which President Biden exited the race, noting that she was with family, and defended their administration’s economic record, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average creep to an all-time high on Friday.

The interview featuring Harris and Walz together, mirroring typical joint interviews for tickets following party conventions, was the vice president’s first since President Biden’s mid-July decision to pass the torch to Harris.