Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz will talk with CNN for their first joint interview. The interview with Dana Bash will premiere tonight, Thursday at 9 p.m., and is meant to broaden their party's excitement following the Democratic National Convention.
The CNN interview will be Harris's first in-depth, on-the-record talk with a journalist since she has taken on the Democratic presidential race after President Joe Biden withdrew and endorsed her on July 21.
How to Watch CNN's Harris-Walz Interview
The First Interview: Harris & Walz A CNN Exclusive will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps. CNN's schedule shows the interview airing between 9 and 10 p.m.
Former President Donald Trump's campaign has been keeping a count of the number of days since Harris talked with the media. The Republican candidate and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, have also mentioned it in their rally speeches.
When will the CNN Interview Be Taped?
The interview is planned to be taped on Thursday afternoon before it will be aired that evening, according to the New York Times.
Trump's campaign called out this decision on X, formerly Twitter, saying it is so that Harris's "handlers have time to play damage control."
Newsweek emailed the Harris and Trump campaigns for comment Monday night.
Vance has even accused Harris of running a "basem*nt campaign" and circulated the hashtag #wheresKamala. He has asked the public on multiple occasions, "What kind of election can you have if your own presidential candidate won't actually answer the tough questions?"
"It's been 37 days since Joe Biden dropped out and Kamala Harris was installed as the Democrat nominee. Kamala has yet to sit down for an interview," Trump's campaign said Tuesday morning. "Kamala is dodging the press for a reason. She doesn't want to talk about her radical agenda."
Trump's campaign called on Harris to answer questions about supporting "ending cash bail for violent criminals," "fundraising for the bail of violent rioters," whether she thinks "that Bidenomics is 'working'" as well as if she regrets "releasing terrorists into the country."
Harris-Walz Campaign Reportedly Avoiding the Press
Crisis communication expert James Haggerty previously told Newsweek that Harris was making a "mistake" by avoiding the press.
The last time Harris gave anything approaching an extended sit-down interview with a major news outlet was on June 24, when the vice president spoke to MSNBC's Morning Joe to discuss how the then-Biden campaign was preparing to attack Republicans on abortion rights.
Harris briefly spoke with reports on the tarmac at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport after a campaign event in Michigan, responding to criticism about not doing a formal press conference and saying she had planned to by the end of the month.
However, Harris was criticized for calling to reporters on her way to Air Force Two to "calm down" and asked, "What you got?" and "What else?"
Harris-Walz Campaign: Where Are They Now?
Thursday's interview will take place while Harris and Walz are hosting a bus tour through Georgia, one of the key swing states for this election.
The state's political landscape is heavily influenced by its significant Black population, which makes up a third of its voter base — one of the highest proportions in the nation. This demographic was crucial to Biden's victory, and Kamala Harris's campaign is counting on strong turnout among Black voters to secure Georgia once again in 2024.
Adding to the complexity of Georgia's political environment are Donald Trump's ongoing legal battles. Trump and 18 others have been indicted for alleged election interference in Georgia, accused of attempting to overturn the 2020 results there. While Trump denies any wrongdoing, the case adds a layer of uncertainty to the 2024 race.
Reflecting Georgia's volatile political dynamics, the Cook Political Report recently reclassified the state from "lean Republican" to "toss-up." The most recent FiveThirtyEight poll, from Aug. 6-16 data, shows Harris receiving an average of about 46% of the vote, with Trump earning about 49% of the votes.
Harris's first campaign stop after launching her presidential bid was in Georgia. The event on July 30, which featured a performance by rapper Megan Thee Stallion, drew a crowd of around 10,000 people.
Meanwhile, Trump held a rally in Atlanta a few days later, where he spent 11 minutes of his speech insulting Georgia's popular Republican governor, Brian Kemp—a move many Republicans labeled as "risky" or worse.
Bash interviewed Republican vice presidential nominee Vance earlier this month. She asked the Senator about Walz branding him as "weird," while Vance claimed Harris and Walz "aren't comfortable in their own skin."
Along with Jake Tapper, Bash moderated the Biden-Trump debate in Atlanta in June. CNN had previously made it clear the moderators would act as facilitators, and the microphones were muted.
Trump supporters like conservative political activist Charlie Kirk have already taken to social media to share their thoughts about the CNN interview with Harris and Walz.
"She needs emotional support to face the media and defend her indefensible record," Kirk posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. "Is this a joke?"
Political commentator Chuck Callesto responded to Kirk's post saying Harris has "zero competence" because she her campaign "won't even allow her on CNN by herself."
Former Harris communications adviser Ashley Etienne told POLITICO's Playbook Monday that she thought Harris should have three goals for an interview: to "peel back some layers," share policy and to "show her visually as commander-in-chief."
"There are questions about her worldview and ethos and who she is as a leader," Etienne said. "I would want her to do some in her office at the White House, show her on the road, and also take you inside her home" at the Naval Observatory.
Update: 8/29/24, 11 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with more information.
