5 things to watch in Harris’s first big interview as the Democratic nominee

Vice President Harris’s first major interview since becoming the Democratic nominee will air Thursday evening.

Harris will be joined by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), for the event, which will air on CNN. Dana Bash will interview the duo during the day as they tour Georgia. The interview will hit TV screens at 9 p.m. EDT.

The sit-down will be the highest-stakes moment for Harris since last week’s Democratic National Convention.

It will also help set the political atmosphere in advance of the first — and perhaps only — debate between Harris and former President Trump, which is scheduled for Sep. 10 on ABC News.

Here are five things to watch from the CNN interview.

Are there any gaffes?

This is the biggest question of all.

From the Harris campaign’s perspective, the imperative on Thursday is simple: Do no harm.

The vice president and her allies won’t shed any tears if they fail to make big news. The main danger is that something goes awry.

This is an especially acute problem because Harris has enjoyed an extended honeymoon period.

She wrapped up her party nomination quickly and with minimal drama after President Biden’s decision to abandon his reelection bid. Her selection of Walz as her running mate has been well-received within the party, keeping progressives on board while not alienating moderates.

The momentum from the Walz pick carried Harris into and through the Democratic convention, where major figures including former Presidents Obama and Clinton spoke on her behalf.

The long run of plain sailing virtually guarantees that any big error from Harris will get blanket coverage from a media hungry for a new storyline.

Does the decision to include Walz work or not?

Some conservative commentators have characterized the decision to do a joint interview with Walz as evidence of Harris’s weakness when it comes to unscripted encounters.

Democrats and other supporters counter that it is commonplace for the presidential and vice-presidential nominees to do joint interviews. 

In July 2016, Trump appeared on CBS News’s “60 Minutes” with his running mate Mike Pence. Last month, Trump and vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) conducted a joint interview with Jesse Watters of Fox News.

That said, Harris is in a highly unusual position because of the circumstances in which she became the nominee. She did so without contesting a primary, which would have exposed her to months of scrutiny.

It is at least plausible to argue a solo Harris interview would have been more effective in rebutting the criticism that she is dodging the media.

There are additional complications. 

First, Walz could make some news, for good or for bad, that would take the spotlight off Harris. 

Second, if the vice president struggles during any contentious exchanges, Walz has a tricky in-the-moment choice of whether to interject.

How tough are the questions?

Another conservative line of attack emanates from Harris’s choice of CNN as the venue for her big interview.

The network fiercely defends its objectivity, but it was a frequent target of Trump, especially during his time in the White House. It has been a subject of hostility from the right for much longer. During the Clinton presidency, conservatives derided it as the “Clinton News Network.”

These days, there seem to be broader doubts too. 

During a recent appearance by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on CBS’s “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the studio audience laughed — in apparent mockery — when the host told Collins he believed CNN was “objective” and trying to “report the news as it is.”

All of this ups the stakes for Bash. But she is also one of the network’s most experienced and respected figures.

Virtually everyone expects Bash to press Harris on her shifts of position on topics, including fracking and health care.

But one intriguing question is the extent to which Bash adopts an adversarial tone — or not.

Does Harris get defensive, as she has in the past?

The most notable TV interview of Harris’s career was a 2021 misfire with Lester Holt of NBC News.

The clash took place during a visit to Guatemala — part of Harris’s role in trying to tackle the long-term drivers of migration during the early days of the Biden administration.

Holt asked Harris why she had not personally visited the U.S.-Mexico border during her first months as vice president.

The question was predictable, yet Harris reacted with a defensiveness that left even some in the White House scratching their heads.

When Holt said, “You haven’t been to the border,” Harris responded, clearly piqued, “And I haven’t been to Europe. I mean, I don’t understand the point that you’re making.”

The strange response cast a pall over her trip — and reportedly made her reticent about doing more high-profile TV interviews.

That said, Harris loyalists note the vice president acquitted herself well in extremely challenging circumstances during an interview with Anderson Cooper, also on CNN, right after Biden’s catastrophic June 27 debate performance.

Does Harris signal any differences with Biden?

Harris is the first sitting vice-president to become a major-party nominee since Democrat Al Gore in 2000.

It’s an inherently difficult position because it obliges the nominee to signal ways in which they are different from what has gone before, without displaying outright disloyalty to the president with whom they have served.

The knot is even tighter in Harris’s case because polls show Biden’s economic management earning widespread disapproval, and his policies on Israel and Gaza have divided the Democratic base.

Harris has been gracious toward Biden both before and after becoming the nominee. 

But Thursday will give her one of her best opportunities to signal what would be different about a Harris presidency.