It’s been nearly a month since Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee and the sitting vice president has yet to take any more than a few shouted questions from reporters in between campaign stops. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has been no more forthcoming when it comes to press access.
But not to worry! The pair are finally set to sit for their first interview… with each other. And based on the teaser for the sit down, the Harris-Walz campaign may be once again cribbing from the Trump-Vance ticket.
On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by Maureen Callahan, author of Ask Not, to discuss how Harris and Walz are getting away with avoiding the media.
The ‘Interview’
The Harris-Walz campaign has been criticized for its media strategy, and yet it seems to be proceeding full steam ahead, undeterred by the concerns. Rather than sit for a traditional interview, the pair ‘interviewed’ each other and the highly produced sit down will air on the vice president’s YouTube channel on Thursday. “What a middle finger to everyone this is,” Megyn said. “It’s amazing.”
The conversation, which was taped in Detroit, Michigan, promises to touch on “their historic campaign” as they talk “taco recipes, hot peppers, their childhoods, careers, and the rights and freedoms they want to protect.”
Cribbing Campaigns?
In a sneak peek of the chat, Harris and Walz recount the way he found out she had selected him as her running mate. As the story goes, Walz didn’t pick up the phone because he didn’t recognize the phone number and thought it might be a telemarketer.
The media has jumped on the story as yet another example of the campaign’s “joy” and relatability, but Megyn couldn’t help but notice the resemblance to the anecdote Sen. J.D. Vance shared with her late last month. “All I could think when I saw this last night was: She copies everything,” Megyn said. “She can’t even have an original VP story.”
In case you missed it, Vance told Megyn he missed the all-important call from Donald Trump because “it went straight to voicemail or something,” and the former president ribbed him about it when he called him back. “I call him back and he answers the phone and says, ‘You know, J.D., you missed a very important phone call. Maybe I’ll have to give this to somebody else,'” Vance shared.
It ultimately led to a sweet moment between Trump and Vance’s seven-year-old son who was talking about Pokemon cards in the background while his dad was on the phone. “I didn’t see… MSNBC talking about the joy between these two men as they celebrated [Vance] being raised up to this amazing position and the kindness of Trump to speak to the little boy on the phone,” Megyn said. “No, the joy is preserved only for Harris-Walz no matter how many children [Walz] wants to have cut up in his state without the permission of their parents.”
‘The Greatest Shake’
In Callahan’s view, the double standard is obvious. “I can’t believe the rest of the media isn’t on fire about this,” she said. “Can you imagine if Donald Trump or J.D. Vance said they were, in effect, going to orchestrate a media blackout because they weren’t getting a fair shake? Kamala is going to get the greatest shake of all shakes.”
Even so, she believes the Harris campaign is being strategic. “There are no shortage of sympathetic, cheerleading outlets and journalists who would be happy to lob softball after softball Kamala’s way,” Callahan noted. “But the way that they are keeping her obscured – I think we all know what’s going on. She is the Sarah Palin of the left.”
By that, Callahan means the vice president is looking to avoid an ill-fated moment like the one Palin suffered with Katie Couric during the 2008 election. “Katie Couric infamously asked her, ‘What papers do you read?’ She couldn’t name a single periodical… ‘What her most consequential Supreme Court decision was.’ She couldn’t name a single one,” she recalled. “Kamala is famous for not doing the work… When she is asked about policies, she can’t answer the question because she hasn’t done the reading and then she reams out her staff because she is unprepared.”
Said staff might simply be looking to avoid the embarrassment. “That is who they are hiding in the metaphorical basement – the woman who won’t do the work,” Callahan concluded. “But she can bring you joy.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Callahan by tuning in to episode 863 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.