SAUNDERS: 5 takeaways from Kamala Harris’ two recent interviews

Under pressure to grant more interviews to journalists, Kamala Harris took questions from the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday, weeks after a NABJ panel grilled Donald Trump on July 31.

During Trump’s July 31 NABJ interview, ABC News’ Rachel Scott noted that “a lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today” given Trump’s history of birther-ism and criticism of Black officials, including Barack Obama, and journalists. “Why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”

Trump took offense. “I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner, a first question,” he responded. “You don’t even say, hello, how are you?”

Harris had a much different experience with the NABJ. What a difference a Democrat candidate makes. Here are five takeaways.

1. Tuesday’s NABJ event with Harris was the opposite of the Trump interview

The friendly three-person panel — Politico’s Eugene Daniels, TheGrio’s Gerren Keith Gaynore and WHYY’s Tonya Mosley — spent 45 minutes pressing the vice president to answer questions on the U.S. economy, child care, racism in America, the war in Gaza, reparations, the situation in Springfield, Ohio, and abortion. There were tough questions, but the fire was used to hold Harris to the left.

2. Rare appearances lowered expectations

The narrative prior to Tuesday’s NABJ session was all about Harris’ reluctance to grant interviews to news organizations.

For good reason. If you take the 11-minute length of Harris’ interview with Philadelphia 6 anchor Brian Taff that aired Friday and add the 27 minutes of air time during her Aug. 29 interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, you get far less than an hour of interview air-time since she became the Democratic presidential nominee.

3. Where’s Joe? And other questions not asked

The NABJ sit-down with Trump began with a question from Scott about “the elephant in the room,” as she asked Trump why Black voters should trust him given his birther rhetoric on Barack Obama and Nikki Haley.

The elephant in the room for Harris was different. It’s Joe Biden.

So you would expect a line of questioning like this — which you did not hear:

You spent time with the current president regularly. What do you know about his cognitive state? Did you say anything to Biden or his inner circle? Or is the public perception wrong about Biden?

Most important: Is he up to the job now?

4. Israel and the both-ways solution

Daniels tried to push Harris to articulate what she offers that is different from the current Biden approach to the Gaza War, after he noted, “You’ve gotten a lot of credit for emphasizing the humanity of Palestinians.” (Friendly.)

Harris stood up for Israel’s right to exist and defend itself — but in a way that makes you wonder how long that would last if she is elected president. Her mantra: “We need to get this deal done and that is my position and that is my policy.”

Word salad. Short version.

5. Harris has learned from her mistakes

If you watched the Taff interview, you saw Harris appear un-serious and under-prepared. When Taff asked Harris for “specific things” she would do to bring down prices and make life more affordable, she answered, “Well, I’ll start with this. I grew up a middle-class kid.”

It was the same talking point, almost word for word, that she used at the start of her one debate with former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10. And it was all about her.

Tuesday, Harris relied more on her background as a prosecutor — and her experiences with the trauma of crime victims. It was her finest moment in the debate.

Contact Review-Journal Washington columnist Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com. Follow @debrajsaunders on X.