In the wake of the Iowa Caucus that saw former President Donald Trump receive a majority of the vote, the Biden campaign has been out and about trying to make the case for another term.
There was the awkward 12-second video of President Joe Biden released on Tuesday, and Vice President Kamala Harris has been on a media tour of her own. Earlier this week, she gave interviews to ABC News and The View that had very similar messaging – as in, she literally said the same thing.
On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by Charlie Spiering, author of Amateur Hour, to discuss Harris’ recent comments and why she struggles to deliver both scripted and off-the-cuff remarks.
Harris on Repeat
On Tuesday, ABC News released an interview White House correspondent Mary Bruce did with Harris while she was on the ground in South Carolina speaking at an NAACP event in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and meeting with voters.
Bruce asked the vice president about the Biden campaign strategy to date:
BRUCE: Do you think Donald Trump, at this point, is a foregone conclusion?
HARRIS: I don’t know. But look, if it is Donald Trump, we’ll beat him again. When you, again, look at all the issues that are at stake including our standing in the world, I think people of America want more in terms of the outcome of this election and charting the course for the future of our country.
BRUCE: You’ve been confident. Your campaign has been confident. Some are concerned you are maybe a little too confident. Why not go out and attack Donald Trump, go after his legal challenges? What are you guys waiting for?
HARRIS: Well, let me just tell you something. I am of the school that you either run without an opponent or you run scared… We have a duty, a responsibility to earn this reelect and that’s why I’m out here in South Carolina… We’ve done really good work, our challenge will be to let people know who brought it to them…
Flash forward to Wednesday and Harris was in New York City for an appearance on The View. Co-host Joy Behar also wanted to know how the vice president was feeling about a rematch with Trump, which led to some very familiar responses:
BEHAR: Now, are you scared, first of all, what could happen if Trump ever became, God forbid, president again? And what are you going to do to stop the crazies?
HARRIS: I am scared as heck, which is why I’m traveling our country. You know, there’s an old saying that there are only two ways to run for office – either without an opponent or scared. So on all of those points, yes, we should all be scared… We don’t run away from something when we’re scared, we fight back against it… We have to earn the reelect and we have to communicate what we have achieved… We’ve done a lot of good work. We need to let people know who brung it to ’em…
Given that Harris repeated several lines virtually verbatim, Megyn said it was clear Harris was told to stay on message. “A lot of politicians use lines, but it’s not because they have to,” she noted. “That’s the thing with her is when she gets off script, it’s always word salad or inanity.”
‘My Intelligence Is Insulted’
As Megyn pointed out the other day, Harris either has her ‘go to’ platitudes like “what could be, unburdened by what had been” or she’s talking in circles. “She doesn’t have ‘it’… the thing that penetrates the lens, the thing that makes people want to listen to you, that makes you a dynamic speaker,” she explained. “She thinks she’s Rush Limbaugh – she’s not and it’s so obvious.”
In researching his new book, Spiering said he came across “so many stories” about the trouble Harris has had with her communications team. “She’s been through a number of speech writers,” he shared. “It is not a job that too many people want.” He also discovered “how terrible she has been just even delivering the most scripted lines,” which has led to staff members resigning in frustration.
Perhaps the most notable example was the infamous line she delivered about her handling of the immigration crisis. “That famous interview she did about the border where she talked about how ‘she hasn’t been to the border but she hasn’t been to Europe either’ was after significant media training,” he said. “They had prepared her to answer that question and, when it came time to answer that question on live television, she came up with her own thing and it was just totally astonishing.”
Ultimately, Megyn said she walks away from hearing Harris speak with one feeling. “All I feel is insulted; my intelligence is insulted,” she concluded. “I’m bored by [her]. I’m offended by [her].”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Spiering by tuning in to episode 705 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.