‘You Can’t Force Somebody To Answer a Question’: Dana Bash On Her Kamala Harris Interview and Upcoming Debate
Dana Bash, CNN anchor and chief political correspondent, is out with a new book — her first — America’s Deadliest Election: The Cautionary Tale of the Most Violent Election in American History. With her co-author David Fisher, she chronicles the little-known history of an election of 1872 that turned chaotic and violent.
On this week’s episode of Mediaite’s Press Club with editor-in-chief Aidan McLaughlin, Bash recounted that history and its striking parallels with the last few years of American politics, from the 2020 election and its violent aftermath to the threats against democracy still lurking today.
Bash also spoke about her interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz, Harris’s first since President Joe Biden stepped aside in late July and she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket.
“When it comes to policies, she was shot out of a cannon,” Bash said of Harris. “’What do I want to stick with [Biden] on? What do I not?’ She, for the most part, didn’t want to have any daylight with Biden on policies.”
Bash also responded to some of the criticism she faced from partisans over the high-profile interview, including from those on the right who argued she didn’t press Harris enough on some of her more nebulous positions. “I tried to get more into the nitty gritty and get the answer. But you can’t force somebody to answer a question,” Bash said.
Bash also reflected on co-moderating, alongside Jake Tapper, the first presidential debate of this election in June, between former President Donald Trump and President Biden. She described the preparation process as a moderator like a “college seminar” complete with actors playing the candidates. She also revealed what she was thinking when Biden struggled through the debate that would ultimately lead to his exit from the 2020 race, as well as what advice she would give to the moderators of the ABC News debate between Harris and Trump on Tuesday.
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