Watch: Hannity Jabs Kamala Harris with Sharp Joke, Then Trump Delivers a Final Blow During a Fiery Town Hall
Donald Trump didn’t hold back his thoughts on Kamala Harris’ interview skills — suggesting, as he hinted, that even with notes, she didn’t impress.
At a town hall event aired on Fox News Wednesday, Trump critiqued Harris’ much-anticipated interview with CNN, in which she was joined by her running mate, Tim Walz. Trump remarked that it seemed clear she was using prepared material and sarcastically added, “nobody wants to cover it.”
This comment came after Sean Hannity, who was moderating the event, mocked Harris for the brevity of her CNN interview with Dana Bash, which was aired last week.
“Sixteen minutes and 30 seconds are up. Thank you for being with us!” Hannity joked, referring to the brief amount of time the Democratic presidential nominee spoke during her first formal interview since becoming the presumptive candidate in July.
Trump, with a grin, joined in, saying, “I’ll say something, though: If you watched that interview, she had notes. That means she knew the questions.”
“She kept looking down!” Trump added. “Nobody wants to cover it. I know all about notes!”
Trump’s offhanded humor (“I’m the best without notes, I have all the best non-note answers”) highlighted two key issues with Harris’ CNN interview: her frequent glances down and the fact that no one seemed to challenge her on it.
Gee, I wonder what might have been down there:
Kamala Harris Caught Hiding Notes During @CNN Interview? See this suspicious clip, where Kamala keeps looking down at a fixed spot, but in wide frame, nothing is there. Is there a reason to lie about notes? (cc: @elonmusk )
— Frank Broadview (AKA ChairmanOfTheBored) (@CastleBroadview) August 30, 2024
I mean, if I went on CNN for an interview I'd make damn… pic.twitter.com/5WSwmQ4ldN
Why was Kamala Harris constantly looking down during the interview? Was she looking at notes that were cropped out by editing and zooming in? Or is she searching for the answer?
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) August 30, 2024
If that's the best she could do with notes, she is in real trouble for the debate pic.twitter.com/uP8CTXe87Z
Part of Kamala’s interview at #CNN. Awful. She’s looks down at a note card almost the entire time. Pathetic. pic.twitter.com/hlnlNFhpHk
— HaveBlue77 (@HaveBlue77) August 29, 2024
Whether it’s a matter of struggling with eye contact, Harris was noticeably looking down during much of her 16-and-a-half-minute interview.
This raises several concerns, not least because the interview was already lackluster — though free of major blunders.
If she indeed relied on note cards, they won’t be allowed during the upcoming Sept. 10 debate with Trump. There were reports her team sought to change the rules to allow notes and to keep both microphones open, preventing either candidate from being muted.
“Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President. We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones,” read a letter from Harris’ campaign to ABC News, the network hosting the debate, according to CNN.
Nevertheless, ABC rejected any alterations to the debate structure, meaning Harris will face Trump without her notes or muted mics. And as for her using notes in the CNN interview? If she wasn’t, why would it even matter when she steps onto the debate stage?
Just a thought. She’ll be up there for far longer than 16 minutes and 30 seconds.