NPR Panelist: Harris-Walz Impressed on CNN Despite Conservative Criticism of Bash

During their regular “Week In Politics” chat on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, host Scott Simon and NPR senior Washington correspondent Ron Elving delved into Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s performance in their sit-down CNN interview. Elving noted that the conservative backlash against CNN and host Dana Bash indicated that Harris and Walz held their own in the interview.

SCOTT SIMON: Vice President Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, gave their first broadcast interview since they became the Democratic ticket. I – you know, you have to ask it like you’re asking a theater critic. How do you think they did?

RON ELVING: I’d say they held their own, and you knew they had because the conservative media sphere erupted in criticism of the interview and CNN and the host of the show, Dana Bash.

NPR aired a snippet of Harris stating that her values had not changed on the fracking issue. Elving explained that this was a standard response when candidates reverse their positions, highlighting Harris’ alignment with Biden’s stance on growing the green economy while not banning fracking.

The conversation then shifted to criticisms of former President Trump in light of his visit to Arlington National Cemetery on the anniversary of the tragic events in Afghanistan. Elving and Simon discussed reactions from politicians like J.D. Vance and the intricacies of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, noting the complexities of assigning blame.

SIMON: The Harris campaign called the confrontation sad. Here’s what J.D. Vance said. He blamed the vice president for the U.S.’s 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, telling a rally in Pennsylvania…

VANCE: Kamala Harris is so asleep at the wheel that she won’t even do an investigation into what happened, and she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up. She can — she can go to Hell!

SIMON: But, Ron, didn’t President Trump deal directly with the Taliban to negotiate that withdrawal?

RON ELVING: It’s not clear just what Senator Vance is proposing to investigate here. As for the Arlington incident, the Army has backed up the National Park employee who was pushed aside for enforcing the policy against political ads being made at Arlington. But if Vance is talking about investigating what happened in Afghanistan back before his own election to the Senate, there’s no doubt the withdrawal was, in fact, negotiated and signed in treaty form in February 2020 by Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. And it was Trump himself who announced while still president that the remaining U.S. troops in Afghanistan should be home for Christmas 2020, again, before Biden had even become president. And, in fact, in the spring and summer of 2021, he was still attacking Biden for delaying the withdrawal of U.S. troops that Trump had set in motion.

Elving countered the narrative by highlighting Trump’s role in initiating the withdrawal process, emphasizing the ongoing political tensions surrounding the issue.

As the segment concluded, Simon and Elving pondered the significance of the upcoming ABC presidential debate and the dynamics between Trump and Harris on the national stage. Elving predicted a high viewership for the debate and speculated on the potential outcomes of the event.

As the political landscape continues to evolve, it is crucial to stay informed about current events and developments. For more trending news articles and insightful analysis, visit DeFi Daily News for in-depth coverage of the latest headlines and discussions in the world of politics.