By Samuel Short October 17, 2024 at 10:11am
Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with Fox New anchor Brett Baier on Wednesday was a complete trainwreck for her campaign.
While supporters of former President Donald Trump are predictably going to adopt that position, some of Harris own supporters aren’t exactly thrilled with her performance, including journalist Geraldo Rivera.
Rivera — officially a supporter of Harris after giving his endorsement via social media platform X on Monday — appeared on News Nation’s “Dan Abrams Live” with host Dan Abrams and fellow guest and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, where he expressed his disappointment with Harris.
“I am baffled by the lack of preparation” Rivera said of Harris as he described her interview with Baier as, “the highest profile interview that she has [given].”
After Harris had an excruciating exchange with Baier about illegal immigration, Rivera seemed stunned that the Harris campaign could do such a poor job in prepping Harris as it was the most obvious place Baier could press her.
After saying all the Democrats knew, “It was going to be all about immigration,” he asked, “How could she not be ready?”
When it came to illegal immigration, Baier brought up one of the saddest stories to come out of the current administration — 20-year-old Laken Riley being murdered in February allegedly by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.
Was Kamala prepared for her Fox interview?
Rivera read a statement from Riley’s father taken from an interview he did with “Today” in March where he expressed his disapproval with the politicization of his daughter’s death saying, “It makes me angry,” as he felt, “she was much better than that.”
Rivera wondered why Harris couldn’t express herself in a manner that empathized with the families or Riley and others murdered while also showing regret that the murders were being used for political reasons at all.
He called that would-be strategy “politics 101.”
While Rivera mentioned questions over specific people murdered, Harris also went viral for her inability to answer Baier’s question when he simply asked for the number of illegal immigrants that have entered the country since she took office.
Rivere called the Harris campaign’s response to illegal immigration, “their biggest Achilles heel,” further stating, “if Donald Trump wins, it will be largely because of the immigration issue.”
Rivera summed up the whole topic for Harris as, “malpractice” as he showed growing concern over the candidate he only chose to officially endorse two days prior.
From Rivera’s statements above, his honeymoon phase with the Harris campaign is over.
While it is beyond many of us as to why someone would endorse her in the first place, Rivera now seems to be waking up to how bad she actually is.
While her campaign and supporters will cover for her as Wednesday’s interview was with Fox News, her performance in interviews on “The View” or with late night host Stephen Colbert don’t hold up any better.
Friendly or hostile territory, Harris just can’t speak well enough to win over voters.
Sam Short is an Instructor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London.
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