Van Jones: Debate will be Harris ‘job interview’ with ‘class clown’ next to her

Democratic strategist Van Jones said Tuesday’s presidential debate will serve as a “job interview” for Vice President Harris, who he said will need to make her case to the America people without focusing too much on the “class clown” next to her.

“This is a job interview for her,” Jones said about the debate in a panel discussion on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” Monday evening. “She‘s got the class clown sitting next to her — doing raspberries, throwing spitballs — but at the end of the day, the audience is not Donald Trump, and the audience is not the two interviewers from ABC.”

“The audience is the American people who are ‘Kamala curious,’” he continued. “They’re open, but they don’t know enough yet for her to close a deal.”

The remarks come ahead of a high-stakes debate Tuesday evening, when the American people will be able to hear directly from the candidates about their various policy agendas.

Harris has faced criticism for reversing some policy positions she held when running in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. She addressed those concerns in a recent CNN interview, her first major interview as the Democratic nominee, in which she said her values had not changed but that she has learned a lot as vice president and since evolved.

Jones said he expects Trump “to throw everything he can about the past,” but he added Harris has “to focus on the future.”

“She’s going to have to counter,” he said. “This is a job interview, and the American people matter a lot more than Donald Trump.”

The Trump campaign has also tried to tie Harris into some of the less popular moments from the Biden administration — including the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal — and has sought to blame Harris for the public’s concerns about the economy and immigration.

Asked how she can effectively counter those efforts during the debate, Jones said, “Well, first of all, she’s got a lot to be proud of, and she’s going to make her case,” noting she needs to be focused on the future.

The Hill has reached out to both campaigns for comment.