The typically friendly CNN continued its attack on Kamala Harris on Friday after her softball interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Earlier this week, the network’s presenters criticized Harris for not being specific in its proposals, which they say could lead to a Donald Trump win in November.
On Friday, conservative pundit Scott Jennings criticized Harris for sitting with Winfrey at a live-streamed fundraiser instead of through less friendly outlets.
Jennings cut to the chase, asking, “When have you ever sat down with a hostile media outlet?”
Winfrey and Harris had a pleasant chat in which the vice president reiterated her status as a gun owner and that she would shoot anyone who entered her home.
The usually friendly CNN continued its attack on Kamala Harris on Friday after her softball interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“It’s hard to compare an interview with a more hostile or even critical member of the press to someone who has pledged to support the campaign,” CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams responded.
Things got a little tense when Jennings responded, “When would that be?”
Elliot seemed to smile and lightly joked, saying, “You know what the fuck I mean, Scott.”
“Just asking,” Jennings replied cheekily.
Jennings was even more scathing when asked to break down the content of the conversation with Winfrey.
“I watched a lot of this last night. I mean it was basically a whole hour of the same kind of empty word salad that we’ve come to expect from the vice president,” he said.
While he called the comments about guns “helpful,” he said the rest amounted to “really inane jokes” that would be incoherent if read in a transcript.
This comes days after hosts Dana Bash and Abby Phillip criticized Harris’ campaign.
On Friday, conservative pundit Scott Jennings (pictured right) criticized Harris for sitting with Winfrey at a live-streamed fundraiser instead of through less friendly outlets.
The vice president made the statement in an attempt to burnish her credentials as a “common-sense” pro-gun control candidate during her hour-and-a-half live fundraising event with Oprah Winfrey.
Bash joked Wednesday that a drinking game could be played every time Vice President Harris repeats the same talking points about the economy, often mentioning small businesses and her middle-class background.
“When you listen to Kamala Harris talk about what she’s going to do, you can almost start a drinking game every time she says ‘small business,'” Bash said during a panel discussion.
Meanwhile, Phillip said Tuesday that Harris was “lacking in detail” and did not have quick, “comprehensible” answers on the economy and other issues.
‘Today, Black journalists from NABJ (National Association of Black Journalists) pressed Vice President Kamala Harris on policies ranging from guns to the war in Gaza, but many of her answers lacked specifics,’ Phillip said.
The legendary talk show host kicked off the hour-and-a-half-long live broadcast by introducing Hollywood A-listers including: Bryan Cranston, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Jennifer LopezTracy Ellis Ross, Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep.
“I’m smiling from ear to ear, Oprah,” said Breaking Bad’s Cranston. “I’ve never felt so much joy and optimism in a campaign in a long time.”
But with Winfrey at the helm of production, there were also some poignant moments, including the introduction of the mother of the first woman to die from a preventable abortion since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Throughout the evening, Winfrey launched celebrities.
Dana Bash joked Wednesday that a drinking game could be played every time Vice President Harris repeats the same talking points about the economy, often mentioning small businesses.
Meanwhile, Phillip said Tuesday that Harris was “lacking in detail” and did not have quick, “comprehensible” answers on the economy.
“Hello, President Harris,” Streep said with a laugh. “From my mouth to God’s ears.”
Streep then asked Harris what would happen if Trump again refuses to concede the election.
“More Americans than we imagine who voted for Trump before have decided that January 6 was a step too far,” Harris said.
He added that the ‘other piece’ is that ‘the lawyers are working.’
“It’s so important that we talk to our friends and neighbors about misinformation,” he continued, also encouraging his followers to “stand up for the integrity of election workers.”
Harris also pleaded: “Don’t be afraid to vote.”
“I think there’s also something quite insidious about these attacks on the electorate in these various forms that are meant to convince people that their vote won’t matter,” the vice president said.
He assured the crowd, including Streep, that “we’re going to have a good election day.”
Ahead of the event, the Harris-Walz campaign said nearly 200,000 people had signed up to watch.
Winfrey took over a soundstage in Oakland County, Michigan, to film, and invited Michigan’s popular Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, to come and get the crowd going.
The veteran talk show host explained that the idea for the event came from Zoom calls involving different groups immediately after Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, starting with “Win With Black Women.”
Winfrey said members of all kinds of groups were performing Thursday night, including Swifties for Harris and even Train Lovers for Harris.
“I didn’t know there were train lovers,” Winfrey mused.
He said Republicans for Harris were part of the crowd.
“I love that group even more,” Winfrey said.
The self-described independent first supported former President Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008. She endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 but did not run on her behalf.
Winfrey has been heavily involved this cycle, first speaking at the Democratic National Convention and then hosting the event Thursday night.
He had Harris answer questions from her live, in-person audience, focused primarily on the economy.
