Journalist Mark Halperin said Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris’ “performance” during her Wednesday CNN town hall left many Democrats feeling resigned about her candidacy.
Harris faced criticism for her indirect answers during the event from CNN host Dana Bash and CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod shortly following the town hall. Halperin, on his 2WAY platform, asserted Democrats now realize Harris won’t have the chance to sharpen her skills, with the presidential campaign nearing its end.
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“We’re not going to go overboard here and say, ‘It’s over, [former President Donald] Trump’s going to win.’ But a lot of what we’re going to talk about today is not great for Kamala Harris. Again, it doesn’t mean Trump’s a great guy in the eyes of all of America,” Halperin said. “It doesn’t mean Trump’s going to win, but where we are right now is there are increasing problems for the Democratic Party. You saw it in the punditry from Democrats last night on CNN after the town hall.”
“You saw it on morning television, where Democratic pundits, trying to be poker-faced, are clearly feeling what a lot of Democratic donors are feeling and Democratic elected officials are feeling, which is there’s no time left for her to get better,” he added. “And I think the biggest story of the news cycle is, along with ‘Trump loves Hitler,’ which we’ll talk about, is her performance last night was the last straw for a lot of Democrats. No more ‘the more she does it, the better she’ll get.’”
The journalist then prompted Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine to share his perception of the town hall “and why it’s considered in Democratic circles to be such a disaster.” Turrentine started by asserting Harris effectively advanced her messaging accusing Trump of being “a fascist” before expressing concern about how the vice president performed.
“We saw this in 2019, and there was a hope that as she did more interviews and settled down and got more comfortable, that you would see kind of a human being with some passion, some humor. Because we talk about it — Trump is having fun. Like it is clear as day that he’s feeling pretty good,” he said. “So I think the frustrating part to Democrats is it is clear that she is just not really capable right now of answering that question: ‘Why should I be for you?’ And I hope that enough voters decide that she doesn’t have to, but I don’t feel confident about that.”
Harris currently trails Trump in all of the seven top swing states, according to the RealClear Polling averages. Halperin asserted Tuesday that Trump will be president-elect on Nov. 5 if the current early voting trajectory persists.
Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America
