Kamala campaign says she'll sit for a solo interview at some point

Over a month after being named the Democratic party candidate in the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris finally sat down for an interview. This was not a solo interview, however, with her running mate Tim Walz also appearing, and after criticism for the move, her campaign has stated that she will sit for a solo interview at some point before the election.

According to Politico, in response to the criticism over Harris not appearing for the interview solo, her campaign "provided a list of joint interviews conducted by every major party presidential ticket since 2004." A senior campaign official told the outlet, "obviously she will do solo interviews too," before election day.

During the joint interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Walz answered nearly as many questions as Harris, taking up about half of the interview time. Harris was grilled on her apparent position changes, what her Day One goals are, why she hasn’t taken steps to address issues voters care about already since she’s in the White House currently, and other topics.

Ahead of the interview, the announcement of Harris’ joint appearance with Walz was widely panned. 

"So Kamala Harris finally agreed to do a supposed real press interview with CNN reporter Dana Bash.  But Harris wont do it alone —Gov Tim Walz will be there as her security blanket. Harris is too daft to do a press interview like this on her own," wrote Fred Fleitz, vice chair of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security. 

"Kamala Harris can’t do a media interview solo," wrote conservative commentator Mike Cernovich.

"Why are you afraid to do a solo live interview with an ultra-friendly journalist at CNN? Disqualifying weakness. A POTUS leads the Armed Forces, commands the most powerful military on earth, faces down foreign enemies. You can’t do CNN without a co-panelist and an editing bay," Trump senior advisor Stephen Miller wrote.

"It is absolutely unacceptable that the first and ONLY interview from Kamala Harris - the anointed Democrat nominee for President of the United States - is done jointly with Tim Walz. It is offensive to ALL women that Kamala has refused to sit for a solo interview when she is running to be Commander-in-chief," Rep Elise Stefanik wrote. 

In the 41 days since Harris was endorsed by Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race after increased pressure to do so from his own party, Harris has rarely answered questions from reporters. She also has agreed to only one presidential debate, which will take place on September 10 with ABC News. Harris has also stated that she would debate Trump again in October, though no date has been set and no news outlet selected. She turned down two other proposed debates from Trump, one that would have taken place on Fox News, and another that would have taken place on NBC News.