Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will sit down for their first joint interview as candidates on August 29, marking a significant moment in the 2024 presidential race. This interview, set to air on CNN at 9 p.m. ET, will be Harris’s first extended, unscripted exchange with the media since launching her presidential campaign on July 21. Dana Bash, CNN’s chief political correspondent and anchor, will conduct the interview.
This appearance comes just one week after Harris delivered her nomination acceptance speech on the final day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention. As she hits the campaign trail on a bus tour through Georgia, a critical battleground state, Harris is using this interview to reach voters beyond the Democratic Party’s base. The interview also represents a pivotal moment for the Harris-Walz ticket as they navigate one of the shortest major-party campaigns in modern U.S. history.
Harris’s entry into the race came after President Joe Biden announced his decision not to seek re-election, endorsing Harris as his successor. Since then, she has moved quickly to establish her platform, facing criticism from Republicans for her limited engagement with the media. Notably, Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio), Trump’s running mate, has been vocal in his criticism, accusing Harris of avoiding the press.
“I think it’s really disgraceful,” Vance said during an early August campaign stop in Wisconsin, pointing to the numerous interviews and press conferences held by himself and former President Donald Trump since Vance was elevated to the top of the Republican ticket at the GOP convention in July.
Harris had promised earlier this month to conduct a sit-down interview before the end of August, and her conversation with Bash will fulfill that commitment. Additionally, her campaign confirmed that she is preparing for her first interview with her Republican opponent, Trump, scheduled to be hosted on ABC from Philadelphia on September 10.
Since the Democratic Convention in Chicago, Harris has seen a slight boost in some national and battleground state polls, though her campaign has been operating under a tight timeline. As of August 27, Harris’s campaign website still lacks a detailed platform, with many of her proposals being outlined in speeches or through staff responses to press inquiries. In recent weeks, she has advocated for issues including abortion access, gun control, voting rights, immigration reform, middle-class tax cuts, and housing affordability.
The upcoming CNN interview will offer Harris her first opportunity to articulate her platform in a detailed and extended format since securing the Democratic nomination. Prior to this, her most recent media interaction was an interview with The Nation in June.
As the Harris-Walz ticket continues to take shape, this interview could prove crucial in defining their campaign’s direction and appealing to voters in the weeks ahead.