Scott Jennings said majority of Harris' Oprah interview provided 'vacuous word salad-tossing'
CNN commentator knocks Harris after Oprah sit-down: 'When has she sat down with hostile media?'
CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings ridiculed Vice President Kamala Harris’ reluctance to handling tough media interviews during a recent CNN segment.
CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings ridiculed Vice President Kamala Harris’ reluctance to do tough media interviews during a Friday discussion on the network.
While on a "CNN This Morning" panel discussing Harris’ interview with TV mogul Oprah Winfrey, the commentator scoffed at the notion that the vice president has done any interviews since becoming the Democratic Party's presidential nominee with reporters that would grill her over her agenda.
"When has she sat down with any hostile media?" Jennings asked in reply to network legal analyst Elliot Williams pointing out that Winfrey provided a friendly forum for Harris.
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CNN political commentator Scott Jennings mocks the idea that Vice President Kamala Harris has done an interview with hostile media. (Screenshot/CNN)
The brief exchange happened after CNN anchor Kasie Hunt pointed out how Harris has "struggled in interview situations," and invited Williams to comment.
The analyst suggested that Harris shouldn’t be having these issues in a sit-down with Oprah since she’s "speaking to a supporter here."
"It’s hard to equate an interview with sort of a more hostile and not even hostile – more critical member of the press with someone who has pledged to support the campaign," Williams said, referring to Winfrey, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month.
"When would that be?" Jennings cut in, asking about when Harris had ever dealt with a hostile press.
Amused, Elliot replied, "You know what the hell, I meant Scott." Jennings shot back, "I’m just asking," and then reiterated the question.
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Vice President Kamala Harris joked about being a gun owner during a rally with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday night. (YouTube screenshot)
During Harris’ interview with Winfrey, the two discussed the Democratic candidate’s vision for the country as well as her policies. There was even a viral exchange between them about Harris’ personal gun ownership, where Winfrey said she "did not know" the vice president owned a firearm.
"If somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot, sorry," Harris replied, laughing. She quickly followed up by saying, "Probably should not have said that. But my staff will deal with that later."
Jennings criticized the interview earlier in the CNN discussion, stating, "I watched a good chunk of this thing last night. I mean it was mostly a solid hour of the same sort of vacuous word salad-tossing that we’ve come to expect out of the vice president."
The commentator, however, praised the clip of Harris saying she would shoot a home intruder, saying, "But that little clip, actually, I think it sells. I think that was a helpful moment for her."
"But the rest of it was really, really inane banter, and if you read the transcript of it, you would say, ‘What?’" he added.
Gabriel Hays is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.
