OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
When Vice President Kamala Harris agreed to sit for an interview with Andrea Mitchell on CNN she must have expected softballs, and there were plenty of those, but one moment in the interview was very tense.
The host straight asked the vice president why President Joe Biden is so unpopular and why she is even more unpopular than him.
“Why do you think the president has such low popularity, favorable ratings, and you have even less favorable ratings? Why do you think that is?” the host said.
“I will tell you what I see when I’m out on the road. I see people thanking the president,” the vice president said before Mitchell interrupted and said, “It’s not translating.”
“Thanking our administration. I think that what we have to do is focus on what is actually strengthening America and the American people and American families. And when I talk with American families about what they want and what they care about, things like bringing down the cost of health care, bringing down unemployment, doing the work of strengthening and growing America’s work force, including American manufacturing. That’s what the American people want,” the vice president said.
But the host was not done. She did not accept the answer and pressed further on the people who believe that she should not be on the ticket with President Biden in 2024.
“Dozens of Democratic leaders are saying that they not only don’t think that he’s the strongest candidate, you know, considering the larger field that could be possible given his age and other defects, but they don’t think that you’re the right person to be on the ticket. Why do you think that?” the host said.
“I think that it is very important to focus on the needs of the American people and not political chatter out of Washington, D.C.,” the vice president said.
“And you obviously ran for president in 2020. You want to be president. Do you still want to be president someday?” the host pressed.
“Joe Biden intends– has said he intends to run for reelection as president. And I intend to run with him as vice president of the United States,” the vice president said.
But in another part of the interview, Mitchell drew the ire of some when she lied about Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
She spoke to Harris in Munich, Germany on several topics which included the Florida governor removing one AP African-American studies class from his state’s curriculum.
“Let me ask you, what does Governor Ron DeSantis not know about Black history and the Black experience when he says that slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught to Florida schoolchildren?” Mitchell said to the vice president.
It is important to note that Mitchell’s question is dishonest as he never said that “slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught to Florida schoolchildren.”
The governor has said that he will keep Critical Race Theory and sexually explicit topics from being taught to children.
“Shameful. This question from @mitchellreports exemplifies everything wrong with corporate media. They’re not accidentally terrible at their jobs–they’re maliciously intent on deceiving people. @GovRonDeSantis never said this, and FL has extensive black history requirements,” the governor’s press secretary Bryan Griffin said.
Shameful. This question from @mitchellreports exemplifies everything wrong with corporate media.
They're not accidentally terrible at their jobs–they're maliciously intent on deceiving people.@GovRonDeSantis never said this, and FL has extensive black history requirements. https://t.co/XZMRoBFuZG
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) February 17, 2023
He then linked to the state’s required curriculum on African-American studies.
“The history of the United States, including the period of discovery, early colonies, the War for Independence, the Civil War, the expansion of the United States to its present boundaries, the world wars, and the civil rights movement to the present. American history shall be viewed as factual, not as constructed, shall be viewed as knowable, teachable, and testable, and shall be defined as the creation of a new nation based largely on the universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence,” the page said.
“The following is in the required instruction statute, s. 1003.42(2)(h), F.S. The history of African Americans, including: the history of African peoples before the political conflicts that led to the development of slavery; the passage to America; the enslavement experience; abolition; and the history and contributions of Americans of the African diaspora to society,” it said.
