'I disagree': Trump-backing CNN strategist gets pushback for criticism of Harris substance
CNN's Scott Jennings was impressed by Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz's acceptance speech, but the conservative commentator felt like the party's convention has been lacking overall.
The Kentucky Republican agreed that Walz's neurodivergent son standing up to tearfully shout out his dad was a "cool moment," but he said Vice President Kamala Harris had some work to do to define herself Thursday night in her own acceptance speech.
"I think Harris is going to have to articulate what kind of president she would be, what would she do as president," Jennings said. "I think this whole convention has really been built on trying to get people to get comfortable with the presidency without really knowing how it would operate. I mean, a lot of what we know about Harris comes from her own record, her voting record in the Senate, liberal, her statements when she ran for president, very liberal, and her actions working for Joe Biden, which resulted in a mid-30s approval rating for the Biden-Harris administration. Now, through anonymous spokespeople, a lot of that's been attempted to be walked back. Nothing we've heard this week and nothing we heard last night would tell you what would they do if they got elected president."
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Jennings commended the vice president for turning around the Democratic Party's momentum since taking over the campaign from Biden, but he encountered pushback when he claimed her campaign was based on nothing but vibes.
"I disagree that you're not hearing saying about what she would do and what her administration would do, and I disagree with Scott," said Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, "I don't think she needs to present her 20-point plan tonight. I think that she has to talk about what she has been talking about and what she will do because she has talked about that. She's going to lower costs for middle-class and working-class families. She's going to make sure that we have continued and expanded access to health care, especially reproductive freedom. She's going to protect those rights and freedoms, and she's going to make sure that we are all able to grow up, that our families are able to grow up in an environment, in an economy, in a social structure where we can meet what we all came here to do."
Cardona argued that Harris did have a proposal to improve border security while also welcoming immigrants, and she said Republicans have attacked her for lacking substantive policies because they lacked their own.
"I don't think we talk about that enough because that is an attack that Republicans are going to continue to use against her, and she has great solutions, which is what Republicans lack," Cardona said.
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