WaPo columnist blasted for 'entirely wrong' defense of Kamala Harris
'Outnumbered' panelists weigh in after Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson claimed Harris is a 'more effective politician' than the position of vice president allows.
Vice President Kamala Harris received glowing retrospectives from the media as the year reached its conclusion, sitting down for a trio of gushing interviews with the Washington Post, Vanity Fair and NPR.
In a Washington Post opinion piece, editorial board member and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart said that Harris has "ably fulfilled" her role alongside President Biden, with a record that shows she is better than her portrayal in the media.
Capehart stacked the first half of the piece with a list of accomplishments, rattling off stories about the vice president’s trips overseas and how the overturning of Roe v. Wade allowed Harris to be "her true self" when speaking with everyday Americans. Capehart briefly made note of stories that centered on a flurry of staff departures from Harris’ office but said that such narratives "unfairly" questioned her competence.
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Committee Women's Leadership Forum in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. (Leigh Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"I’m not saying that Kamala Harris walks on water. Her Chuck Taylors got plenty wet from the growing pains that come with adjusting to being a heartbeat away from the presidency," Capehart wrote. "But the nation’s first Black female and first South Asian vice president has also had to contend with the negative reactions and low expectations that come with shattering ossified notions of who should be in the position."
Vanity Fair, the left-wing magazine known for its flattering profiles of Democrats, released a piece by far-left writer Molly Jong-Fast titled "Kamala Harris, A Very Turbulent Year in America, and the Challenge of Being First."
Jong-Fast began the piece recalling her sit-down with Harris and pondering how she had devoted much of her life analyzing how the media and Americans treat powerful women like the vice president. She realized, beyond all of Harris’ achievements, that the vice president was trying to make her feel comfortable.
"Perhaps it’s a function of the world we all inhabit, but the female vice president is way friendlier and more accommodating than a man in her position would ever be," Jong-Fast, who has attained access to prominent Democrats through her sycophantic style, wrote.
BIDEN CALLED HARRIS 'WORK IN PROGRESS,' WAS 'ANNOYED' WITH HER HUSBAND COMPLAINING: BOOK
She added that Harris is "saddled with the burden of being first," and that there is a carefulness and precision to her words, as well as an obsessivettention to detail by her staff, that permeates across the room. However, that attention to detail apparently didn't include to tell Harris that Jong-Fast has famous parents, as Harris didn't know the liberal writer's mother was Erica Jong.
"Nobody tells me anything around here!" Harris said.
Much of the piece saw Harris and Jong-Fast discuss abortion rights and women in leadership. But the piece also touched on immigration, which Jong-Fast described as a "favorite cudgel" by Republicans against the Biden administration.
Harris, talking about immigration, discussed the root causes, the idea that big business needs immigration to fill job positions, and placed the blame for mass border crossings on Republicans in Congress.
HARRIS BLAMES REPUBLICANS FOR BORDER CRISIS: 'UNWILLINGNESS TO ENGAGE IN ANY MEANINGFUL REFORM'
U.S. Kamala Harris embraces U.S. President Joe Biden before his remarks at a menorah lighting ceremony in celebration of Hanukkah in the East Room of the White House on December 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
"The problem here is that we don’t have a Congress that is willing to actually approach this in a reasonable way," Harris said.
National Public Radio (NPR) White House correspondent Asma Khalid also sat down for an interview this past week with Harris that saw the vice president receive an array of softball questions.
"By definition, this feels like a tough job. I mean, you are someone's No. 2 by definition. Do you feel like you found your own lane? And I'm curious what the toughest aspect for you has been these last couple of years?" Khalid asked Harris during the interview.
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The interview also lacked any questions about reports that Biden had been privately frustrated in the past by Harris’ performance, calling her a "work in progress" at one point according to a new book.
"Here’s how you know just how lazy NPR gets with politicians they support. There are no interruptions," conservative media critic Tim Graham wrote about the interview for NewsBusters, noting Harris was able to speak for several minutes at a time without being stopped by her interviewer.
Khalid closed by asking Harris what her and the family were cooking for Hanukkah and Christmas.
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