Katie Couric once used her interview time with Kamala Harris to talk about how tall she is, but she apparently really wishes the media would have asked the vice president tougher questions on the campaign trail.
The former Today anchor made the comments during an episode of her podcast Next Question with Katie Couric, where she also attempted to dissect what she now sees as a failed media strategy from the Harris-Walz campaign.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn discussed Couric’s criticism and why she is but another media personality who has lost the plot.
Couric Criticizes Kamala
During the interview with former White House press secretary Jen Psaki that dropped last week, Couric lamented how Harris left voters “frustrated” because of her “inability to really succinctly answer questions.”
But Couric seemed to suggest that media – not the candidate – was largely to blame. “I always find that people do better when they’re asked really challenging, pointed questions. I always felt that way about Hillary Clinton,” she said. “If you are giving them these almost weird, like, amorphous softballs, it’s really hard to kind of hone your message and be succinct and say what you really need to say.”
As such, Harris was unable to hone her answers. “I also felt that, and again, I think she really did well in so many areas, but I was frustrated by her inability to really succinctly answer questions at times,” Couric added.
She pointed to a specific moment from Harris’ CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper in October. “Like, if she was asked about changing the Supreme Court at that CNN town hall, she had an opportunity to talk about ethics and what, you know, [Justices Samuel] Alito and Clarence Thomas were doing, and she answered, like, in one sentence, and then went on to something that had nothing to do with the question,” Couric noted. “You know, people notice that, and it’s like, ‘Answer the goddamn question, please!’”
Couric also criticized Team Harris for not getting the Democratic nominee in front of the media sooner. “There was that three-week blackout period, which I honestly could not understand,” she said. “It was making me crazy just as a consumer. What was that?”
Couric’s Softball Interview
Megyn found Couric’s comments hypocritical given how she went about covering the 2024 election. Back in January when Joe Biden was still the Democrat nominee, Harris granted Couric a nearly 40-minute interview.
The sit-down made headlines at the time because of the way Couric chose to frame her line of questioning on major topics like the border crisis. “I want to talk to you about immigration because I think nearly everyone agrees that the system is broken and that we need comprehensive immigration reform,” Couric began. “Early on, I know you were tasked with understanding the root causes of the immigration crisis, but you’re not in charge of the border, which I think is important to point out.”
At another point in the interview, Harris claimed the Biden administration’s poor poll numbers were the result of not taking “adequate credit” for their accomplishments. And then there was the bizarre moment Harris got visibly agitated about the misconception over how tall she is. For the record, the VP said she is “5 [foot], 4 [inches] and a quarter, sometimes 5 [foot], 4 [inches] and a half… and with heels, which I always wear, I am 5 [foot], 7 [inches] and a half.”
Who could say if these were representative of the “really challenging, pointed questions” Couric was criticizing her fellow journalists for not asking.
Then and Now
And then there was Couric’s analysis of Donald Trump and his supporters. Back in April, Couric controversially suggested those who backed the former president were driven by jealousy and bitterness over the wealth gap in America.
“I feel like… the socioeconomic disparities are a lot and class resentment is a lot and anti-intellectualism and elitism is what is driving many of these anti-establishment [voters] — which are Trump voters. So, I think that is a huge problem that we have to address,” she told Bill Maher on his Club Random podcast. “I mean, globalization and the transition from an industrial to a technological society — I don’t know if you’ve ever been jealous of what someone else has or resentful — it is such a corroding and bitter, almost bile feeling.”
And then there was her own coverage as Election Day drew nearer. “Here are some of her show names prior to the election: Gwen Walz on why this is the most important election of our lifetime; why Donald Trump is a fascist and what that means; all about abortion and what’s at stake in the 2024 election; how to save democracy with [former Obama staffers] Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor of Pod Save America,” Megyn noted.
Flash forward to now and Couric is singing a different tune. “Now what we are getting from these leftist commentators is, ‘I was the Trump voter whisperer. Listen to me explain to you now all the things that I secretly knew,’” she explained.
Much like Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski over at MSNBC, Megyn believes Couric is trying to paint herself that way when, in reality, she still doesn’t get it. “Katie Couric is now, like, having the come to Jesus moment… [but she is] #PartOfTheProblem,” she concluded. “You might try having on a Republican or somebody who actually does understand Trump.”
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 948 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.