A few months into Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential run, her handlers faced a dilemma. Should they continue cocooning the candidate or unleash her on the public? Both options came with serious political risks.
Sure, Democrats could keep pretending Harris was a generational talent, but her refusal to sit down for an interview, much less give a press conference, was eroding this fantasy.
On the other hand, as her handlers surely understood, the more people hear from Harris, the more concerned they tend to get.
Indeed, Harris is a thermonuclear platitude dispenser. Few people in American history have expended so many words to say so little.
Her turns of phrase are often so cartoonishly ludicrous they should be used in college textbooks to explain what a “tautology” is to students.
After watching Fox News’ Bret Baier interview Harris, it is clearer than ever that extemporaneous speaking isn’t Harris’ strong suit. The presidential candidate has an uncanny ability to respond to straightforward questions in circuitous, mind-bending arrays of irrelevant non sequiturs.
To work around this problem, Harris’ “media blitz” was initially curated to ensure the candidate would never find herself in the vicinity of a tough inquiry. Before going on Fox, she visited sycophants like sex podcaster Alexandra Cooper and one-time shock jock Howard Stern. She spoke to allies at MSNBC and the cheerleaders at “The View.”
Even in these friendly venues, Harris could barely generate a substantive answer to any questions.
During an unscripted Univision town hall, non-journalist audience members finally pressed her on inflation. Harris let everyone know she was not just of middle-class stock but working-class stock. Which is to say, no one in the audience heard anything new.
And maybe they were the lucky ones.
During a pre-recorded interview with “60 Minutes,” correspondent Bill Whitaker threw a bunch of reasonable, if predictable, questions at Harris. No gotchas, no deep dives into policy. Yet, when the Israel-Palestinian situation came up — it’s been in the news, I’m sure you’ve heard –Harris unleashed such a torrent of gibberish that CBS News had to go back and splice in an answer.
Surely, in a healthier political era, a presidential candidate incapable of articulating a lucid foreign policy worldview would find themselves put under tremendous scrutiny. These days, though, political journalists literally rearrange the Democratic candidate’s words to make her sound normal. I can assure you former President Donald Trump, who is also often at war with syntax, was never afforded such favorable treatment.
So, the important question is, why does Harris always sound like a ninth grader biding time during an oral exam?
No one can speak fluently on a topic relying solely on scripts and talking points. She doesn’t know what she thinks. She doesn’t know what you want her to say. She has no reserve of knowledge to pull from.
Judging from her meandering non-answers, it is highly likely that Harris has never thought about any of these issues in a serious way. Indeed, Harris’ most memorable quote on foreign policy reads as so: “Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country.”
Then again, if she’s offered anything beyond a banality on the economy or faith or governance or culture or constitutional law or anything else, I’ve yet to run across it. This is a woman who, for years, was under the impression that the phrase “what can be, unburdened by what has been” made her sound like the next Martin Luther King Jr.
I’ve also heard people contend Harris is probably stifled by imposter syndrome, a crushing self-doubt about her intellect, knowledge and skills compared to those around her.
What if her anxiety doesn’t stem from a feeling of inadequacy but inadequacy itself? Take the incessant cackling. This tic is probably symptomatic of a well-earned lack of confidence. Her awkward syntax often betrays an imposter desperately attempting to convince you she’s a deep thinker.
Obviously, most politicians triangulate, flip-flop and “evolve” on policy. It’s unlikely, however, that any major politician in history has dropped as many positions as dramatically and as quickly as Harris. The likelihood she has a cogent explanation for guiding moral or political philosophy is slim.
Unless, of course, by a belief system, we’re talking about “empowering Kamala.”
The Bret Baier disaster was the crescendo, but it was nothing new. If you carefully listen to Harris’ words, you are confronted with vapid political creation in way over her head. Though, alas, if history is any guide, she has all the qualifications we expect of a president.
David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist. Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of five books — the most recent, “Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent.” His work has appeared in National Review, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reason, New York Post and numerous other publications. Follow him on Twitter @davidharsanyi.
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There are only 3 reasons why a person generally can’t answer questions:
1) Has no knowledge of the subject.
2) Has no real understanding of what is being asked, so the person can’t even make a good try at formulating a credible answer.
3) If the person were to answer the question honestly, that would let the cat out of the bag. So then typically, the person has to try and either deflect away from the question to another subject or just spout a non-answer lie.
In Kamala’s case, she actually hits the trifecta of all 3 reasons. She has coasted by her entire political career by just reading prepared statements and keeping her real views as hidden from public scrutiny as possible. A typical career politician that has never faced a real challenge anywhere along the way. A Democrat from a Democrat controlled state, who never had to contend with any real challenger, so she’s never had to be really prepared. Thus, what we see is someone who repeats the same “I grew up in a middle-class family” line endless, which is actually a lie by the way, and she then resorts to either bashing Trump (deflection mechanism) or endless word salad since she can’t think on her feet to lie effectively. Which is how she tries to run out the clock.
Bottom line: She is of course completely unfit to be POTUS, but the enemies of our country will love her as much as they loved Old Joe for how easy it will be to get whatever they want. The approximately 25 or 30 billionaire Democrat donors who thought they could maneuver her into the Oval Office will be happy too, now that Biden is no longer useful to their agenda, have managed to buy up enough media time to convince half the country she would be supposedly credible in that role. The only people who won’t like the outcome is of course the approximately 336,000,000 Americans who would have to suffer what she will do to this country, as she drives it into the ground.
Harris’ interview with Bret Baier…was there an interview? All I heard were phrases that swirled around and around, with no beginning thought, middle, or end…much like a babbling brook. I think she knows that we know she doesn’t have enough world experience or knowledge of how most Americans are struggling to successfully pull off winning the most important office in the world. It appeared that she simply didn’t care. Let them eat cake.
I heard that she was late to the interview, so I’m sure Bret had lots more questions. He was trying to speed things along, but she needed her time to babble, and still, there was nothing of substance. There was lots of talking over each other, but harris was going to take her time. “I’ll finish when I feel like finishing,” she must have thought. Terrible debater, even worse in a one-on-one interview with someone like Bret. When she became agitated, out came the salad fork.
Imagine this short-tempered, arrogant, vacuous… uh… person… unleased with the power of the presidency behind her. This is not a good look for the U.S.A. and will not be good for Americans.
30 minutes i can never get back. Didn’t learn anything except that she really…Really HATES Trump. And the scary thing is….people are actually voting for this woman.
She is dumber than a box of rocks
I don’t see how she can get away with so many blatant lies that we know without a fact check are lies.
How did she make it through Law school? Has someone else sat in for the exams ? I realize that as a” woman of color” she was given a special consideration but still. She is not alone ,All the black women prosecutors letting the criminals go free, because they are victims of racism and injustice ,deserving restitution. The mess they are allowed to create, that we pay for. It is criminal.
Kamala has defined herself with her own words and it is scary for us because our enemies are seeing her too. They must be salivating to attack us if she gets into office. As per her track record; she is no good in security, in economics knowing she & Biden buried us in trillions of debt with their dole-outs to countries, and she has no idea how to grow our GDP and not even how to lower the costs of our rapid inflation.
Here’s a simple question Communist harris can answer.. Why has UK’s Labour Party sent 100 Staffers to Swing States to campaign for Communist harris which is illegal and election interference?
Yesterday I went to a Walmart near where I live. There was a mini van near where I parked full of Harris – Walz stickers. One sticker said ‘defeat Trump’, the rest were all Harris. The first thing I thought was if that was me with a vehicle full of Trump stickers my fear would be to come out to find my tires slashed and windows broken. But my point is it doesn’t matter why she can’t answer a simple question. The people with that van don’t care why, and probably don’t even know it’s an issue. They do what they are told and they, like Kamala, can’t think for themselves. There was one line in this article that answered the question it was asking; ‘She doesn’t know what she thinks’. The media and the public education system have done their jobs, and will continue to do just that… tell people what they want them to think. Soros is right now gearing up to buy over 200 radio stations. They will quietly eliminate conservative talk radio. They will expand their censorship until they achieve their one party rule. This election is much deeper than just two candidates. If Trump wins we still have a slim chance to fix this. If not, we are done. The day after the 2016 election, the Clinton crime machine declared that this can never happen again. That machine has expanded and they will do whatever they have to do to make sure it doesn’t.
it’s very obvious bc she has no answer other than to talk in riddles and blame Trump – kac el la doesn’t want her base to know the truth altho they are just as dumb as she is. you are not American if you allowed illegals in this country without vetting, or allow them to rape our children, or sex traffic, or bring more drugs. you are not American, if you use our tax money for unlawful things or people, you are not American if you put tax papers in a position where taxes will be raised to pay for other countries.. it’s a disgrace. you are not American if you put this country down the tubes which the left is doing.
Communist harris can’t answer a simple question because it requires thinking.
QueMala is so stupid, she wouldn’t understand what this article is about!
Not fit for President, She and waltz are lying and denying on alot of issues, America wake up, we need leaders that love God and this country other wise we are going to fall.
she’s a 100% DEI has. no ine said she was smart
Why can’t Kamala answer a simple question? Because she never had to answer any questions plus she never learned. They put her up and the powers behind the scenes wrote her speeches and provided answers she learned to repeat. Since they installed her as a candidate we have not heard one original thought, idea or policy she has for the country going forward. She keeps talking about the future but forgets about the present. You have to acknowledge where you came from in order to build a future. Looking into the future is castles in the sky building. We the people want to know how she is going to tackle the problems of today. Trump has a plan to build on the present. With Harris you will get the deep state policies and they are not pretty. VOTE TRUMP VANCE a plan for America not a pie in the sky.
She is intellectually incapable of answering questions. Wille says she good at her original job.
She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.
I believe people are voting for her because they are fooled by her pretending to love them. It’s so much easier to be deceived when the person hugs and hugs those who are around her. Trump is out to help America, and he doesn’t have time to waste by showing physical affection to everybody. If he loves our country as it once was, and I love our country as it once was ,then that’s my kind of love.
As I have said before grow up you people, and vote for Trump.
Executive summary: she’s a radical leftist empty pantsuit word salad!
Everybody is not stating an understanding of Kamala communication. It has to do with position. My guess is that her road to success was communicated in a prone position, not sitting or standing.
Whoever is selling to Kamala the programs she is trying to promote is as lacking in intellect and knowledge as is she. Her great plan to bring down rich people with a tax on unrealized capital gains comes to mind as the most mindless of programs. At its worst, such a program could cause someone to liquidate an asset in order to pay the tax on its increase in value. But she is a font of stupid programs: de-fund the police, establishing a fund to pay the bail of BLM rioters, turning off our supply of natural gas in in order to support her green agenda while China and India build coal plants, paying for transgender surgery for prison inmates, turning millions of acres of western land into solar farms – over 5 times the size of New Jersey (while 89% of solar panels come from Asian nations (China, Vietnam, India and Malasia)………….
The word salad queen , very childlike
Two reasons, she does not have a answer or is afraid to give her answer.
Kamala is a pro at non answers
Because she is a cotton headed ninny muggins!
It’s very scary to see her as president. But much more concerning is she would be the Commander-in-Chief with the key to the nuclear code
The answer to your question is simple: Kamala doesn’t have the brains God promised a rag doll.
She cannot answer a question because she is autistic (The disorder includes limited and repetitive patterns of behavior)
It is so sad. She is totally unqualified. Last election she was the first one out with no votes. Whenever someone asks a question, her reply is Donald Trump. That is ridiculous. Why can’t you answer a question? She must be dumb. Have you heard her word salads? What the heck is she talking about? Man, it is baffling!
Short answer: because she’s a moron.
Obama Lowered the bar for being President,by the “crease in his pants”liberal media is dispicable,
The answer to this question is becoming much more evident… in that describing her actual plans would very likely sink her campaign. On the other hand, her long-winded non-descriptions of nothing in particular will only reinforce opinions of her dishonesty… which she is clearly unafraid of, especially given the collective IQ of her supporters.
I have watched her a few times. Either she has some kind of intellect problem or is high on something. She acted like she had no idea where she was!
she has got the IQ of a chipmunk.
Answer to David’s Labour’s Party support of Kamala: The Dems are so closely aligned with the British reps that harassed, killed and raped the colonists that they are buds.
I saw Cackling Kamala with Brett Bair, the most soft spoken guy on Fox. All he did was ask pertinent questions that Harris took the long and winding road to come up with a non-answer. Except no Yellow School bus! Hopefully even the densest voter will hopefully see her for what she is: a non-swimmer in the deep end of the political pool.
America deserves a well-educated and honest person running for President. Harris is neither. She has no plan or established hierarchy of pressing issues legal American citizens need. She changes her answers continually or simply avoids the questions. Just look at her past 3-4 years lack of performance. What amazes me i show many idiots think she is great. You got to be kidding me. Harris like Biden offers nothing to the legal American citizens, she consistently sidesteps important issues. Seems like another Obama patsy like JB.
Kamala Harris has never been known for her intelligence. Why would the Democratic party and the rest of the country expect anything different from her poor performances in public office than she has already shown?
Myself I like her Word Salad answers. I need a good laugh now and then.
Just listening to word salad Harris makes you dumber.
Ive been waiting for an interviewer to simply ask her what she thinks of marxism. Is it the right path? Is it her worldview? Maybe Rogan will do it.
Needs earpiece to reply CANT Think
She would not have done the interview with Bret Baier if she would have known ahead of time that they if she would have known ahead of time that they were going to ask questions.
Harris will win the election (sorry to say) because old fashioned Democrats will vote for her because she is running under the open arms of the Democratic party. It wouldn’t matter who, or what, was on the ticket. They are going to vote for the Democratic candidate. They aren’t listening to her babble. They don’t care what she thinks or believes. They don’t hear her spew crazy answers to critical matters such as abortion, education, the economy, foreign policy, housing, infrastructure, immigration, health care, etc. They don’t care that she isn’t black or that she didn’t grow up poor. They don’t care that she is a puppet for Obama and Clinton. And they don’t care that she is a poor representation of American values. I certainly hope that I am wrong about her winning the election. If there was a viable candidate opposing her, there wouldn’t be a race. I want to cover my head and wake up in January 2025 to know what horrible issues face us and what we, as citizens of these great states, will suffer as a result of misplaced endorsements, monetary contributions and allegiance to one party, not one candidate. I can’t take any more of the lies and gibberish being hurled at the voters.
Harris is more full of you know what than a Ukrainian news paper. The bottom line with her is that she’s refused to say she’d close the border. So,.. we can all assume by her very answers that she will step aside while third world country homeless people continue to pour across our border and ultimately destroy the nation. This alone disqualifies her.
Some say she is avoiding putting herself on report with lousy policy statements. I say she is not only avoiding the questions, she is incapable of framing intelligent answers. We have all heard politicians make profound sounding statements to make their positions seem reasonable when the actual policy becomes a horror no one wanted. Harris does not have that skill!
Democrats had set up earth’s climate as the #1 problem and made diversity, equity, inclusion the standard for every personnel choice. That made someone something like Harris a must for their ticket. Now that she was there, she had to be next in line. If they stick with the theme, they may have to nominate her in 2028. She will not have improved. This may be the sunset on DEI. I haven’t heard that saving the globe is quite as important as Obama always insisted it was. I think the complications and ridiculousness of Biden’s Energy Idiocracy may have been too much. At the time of the election in 2020, many didn’t see what was coming. Now that they have had years of it we have to hope the vote will be for normalcy and a better, safer, more prosperous future.
Short answer? Dumb.
I thoroughly agree.
I refuse to believe she has a snowball chance in hell of winning this election to say she will win shows weakness wake up America we are better than that fight fight and keep fighting till we finally fire her candy ass you feel me America?