Having received word Tuesday afternoon that Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) would be Joe Biden’s running mate, CNN was smitten and thus Zuckerville citizens had their marching orders. In the moments after the announcement, she was hailed as a “fighter,” “historic” figure making for a “remarkable moment” that will help “expand” America’s “imagination” “about who can lead.”
Chief political correspondent Dana Bash applauded Biden for the pick, boasting that him choosing Harris despite her attacks on him in the first debate “show[ed] what kind of a — a person he is and a leader that he is that he can put that behind him.”
The Lead fill-in host Pamela Brown emphasized it was “a significant choice” in choosing one of “the best known black woman [sic] in politics,” which teed up far-left political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson to give her own endorsement of the ticket.
Henderson connected Harris to Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 presidential bid because Chisholm wanted to, in Henderson’s words, “really expand the imagination and expand America's imagination about who could be a president, who could lead and so now we have Kamala Harris almost 50 years after Shirley Chisholm ascending to this nomination.”
Henderson then implored viewers to think about how much “hard work” any black woman has had to do in order to ascend to public office, swooning over her “enormous amount of hard work and focus and grit she has done over this last many decades in her career to get to this point.”
She continued by trumpeted the “historic day” challenging America to dream and envision someone who’s “a fighter” creating “viral moments” (against conservatives) as vice president (click “expand”):
And so, yes, this is an historic day. I imagine women around the country, particularly women who are upset about what happened in 2016 with Hillary Clinton not winning that campaign, it’s a day that I think a lot of women are looking — you know, looked forward to for a long time. We'll obviously see what happens in November, but, again, I think this will expand people's ideas about who can lead, right? I mean, if you think about black women in leadership, not many black women in leadership even in your own kind of lives in offices, it is very rare that black women accede to positions of power. We should not take this moment for granted. We should not think of it as inevitable because it was a long time com with a lot of fighting by black women in particular and women just in general and I think if you think about Kamala Harris, she herself a fighter, right? Joe Biden certainly didn't like what she did in that debate. But it proved that she was a fighter. If you think about the viral moments she's had with people like Jeff Sessions, people like Gina Haspel, it was about being a fighter and being aggressive and I think if you're Joe Biden, that's one of the qualities you want to see in a partner.
A child of Democratic politics herself (and thus invested in its future), Brown concurred about what “a remarkable moment” this day has already been with the choice of someone who’s had a “really remarkable rise.”
Chief political analyst Gloria Borger was similarly enthused, sounding like the quintessential Biden surrogate (but I repeat myself) (click “expand”):
Well, it is historical, as all of my colleagues have been talking about and let me just say this. It's also a moment for Joe Biden and for the country. I know Joe Biden in the past has talked about being a bridge to the next generation and what we see here is not so much a bridge but somebody who is embracing the next generation who has said I'm going to be transformational by choosing a black woman as my vice president and, by the way, in doing this, the Democratic Party is sort of saying, okay, well, and Biden is saying you're the next likely nominee no matter when it comes because you've served as vice president should they win and I think what Biden is doing is a larger thing. It's not a bridge anymore.
This has become more of a transformation. He is saying the black voters in this country, I am listening to you. He is saying the young voters who want to see something different, I am listening to you and he's also got a partner here, I would argue, she's been tough on crime, but she understands the issues and she is going to have to deal with police reform, criminal justice reform, and just as he did the recovery act when he was Vice President, maybe he's thinking, well, Kamala Harris can help me in the way that I helped Barack Obama. So I think this is a huge moment for this campaign....[W]e have to see what Donald Trump is going to have to do to her or going to try to do to her. Let's put it that way. We’ll see.
CNN’s fawning coverage that all-but offered an official endorsement of the Biden-Harris ticket was brought to you by (and thus supported by) advertisers such as Allstate, Norton Antivirus, Prevagen, and WayFair. Follow the links to the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant CNN transcript from August 11, click “expand.”
CNN’s The Lead
August 11, 2020
4:19 p.m. EasternDANA BASH: The fact that he chose Kamala Harris who was his rival but not just his rival, somebody who — who really upset him in a very visceral way during the very first debate by going after him about his record on busing and the fact that he overcame that and decided that she is the best partner for him not just in the campaign but if he becomes president you can be sure that is going to be part of the messaging that the Biden campaign is going to put out there. That shows what kind of a — a person he is and a leader that he is that he can put that behind him because I can tell you other people will tell you too he was really hurt, he was really upset and he was really angry, but he's putting that behind him.
(....)
4:23 p.m. Eastern
PAMELA BROWN: Kamala Harris is among the best known black woman in politics right now. This is a significant choice. Tell us what this means to win, to black voters, to supporters of Joe Biden.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON: Well, this is a long time coming. In some ways, it seems inevitable because people have been talking about this possible pairing for almost about a year. There was an article in Politico about a Biden/Harris ticket in May of 2019 and it's kind of been a thing among the chattering classes, but if you think about the long history of women in this country, of black women in this country, trying to have a voice, black women trying to be included as women in the Nineteenth Amendment, you think about somebody like Fanny Lou Hammer who, in 1968, had to beg the Democratic Party for black women in Mississippi to have a voice and then you fast forward to 1972, Shirley Chisholm launching her bid to the White House in January and saying after she lost that one of the reasons that she wanted to run was to really expand the imagination and expand America's imagination about who could be a president, who could lead and so now we have Kamala Harris almost 50 years after Shirley Chisholm ascending to this nomination and listen, this — if you’re a black woman who ends up in this position, the kind of hard work you have to do to first be in those positions in California, attorney general, and then senator, she’s only the second black woman to be senator in this country, the enormous amount of hard work and focus and grit she has done over this last many decades in her career to get to this point. And so, yes, this is an historic day. I imagine women around the country, particularly women who are upset about what happened in 2016 with Hillary Clinton not winning that campaign, it’s a day that I think a lot of women are looking — you know, looked forward to for a long time. We'll obviously see what happens in November, but, again, I think this will expand people's ideas about who can lead, right? I mean, if you think about black women in leadership, not many black women in leadership even in your own kind of lives in offices, it is very rare that black women accede to positions of power. We should not take this moment for granted. We should not think of it as inevitable because it was a long time coming with a lot of fighting by black women in particular and women just in general and I think if you think about Kamala Harris, she herself a fighter, right?
BROWN: Mmmhmm.
HENDERSON: Joe Biden certainly didn't like what she did in that debate. But it proved that she was a fighter. If you think about the viral moments she's had with people like Jeff Sessions, people like Gina Haspel, it was about being a fighter and being aggressive and I think if you're Joe Biden, that's one of the qualities you want to see in a partner.
BROWN: Just a remarkable moment. Kamala Harris has been selected as Joe Biden's vice presidential partner, running partner and she is the immigrant of Jamaican and Indian parents. Really remarkable rise, as you pointed out there, Nia. And as you pointed out, Nia, she is a fighter and recently we sort of saw this play out. It seemed as though the subtext of what she said talking about ambition because there had been reporting out there that some of Joe Biden's allies thought that she was too ambitious, one of the double standard for women and she was speaking recently and she said, look, people who say that, they're just used to what has been, not what could be and really took that criticism on head on. She didn't directly say she was talking about Joe Biden's allies who were critical of her, but that appeared to be what she was hinting at, right, Nia?
HENDERSON: I think that's right and she was really responding to there were a lot of leaks that came out of this election process with people who were Joe Biden allies saying that — that somebody like Kamala Harris rubbed some people the wrong way or she was too ambitious, and it's something I think that particularly women who were trying to be in positions of power, those are the kinds of comments and criticisms they often give. You think about Geraldine Ferarro. Barbara Bush called her a not so nice word when she was the running mate of Walter Mondale. You think about someone like Sarah Palin. People openly wondered Sarah Palin how will she take care of her kids as she’s in — in the White House if she were to win, so these are the kinds of criticism and scrutiny that women get that men don't get and then there's a double layer when you add in a person of color and race and ethnic background as we will see with Kamala Harris. I think she is a singular person and she has been vocal about the unfair ways in which women are treated and in this instance obviously a woman of color has to deal with that double scrutiny of both race and gender.
BROWN: Alright, I want to go to Gloria Borger for now on more of the historical context of this pick. Gloria?
GLORIA BORGER: Well, it is historical, as all of my colleagues have been talking about and let me just say this. It's also a moment for Joe Biden and for the country. I know Joe Biden in the past has talked about being a bridge to the next generation and what we see here is not so much a bridge but somebody who is embracing the next generation who has said I'm going to be transformational by choosing a black woman as my vice president and, by the way, in doing this, the Democratic Party is sort of saying, okay, well, and Biden is saying you're the next likely nominee no matter when it comes because you've served as vice president should they win and I think what Biden is doing is a larger thing. It's not a bridge anymore. This has become more of a transformation. He is saying the black voters in this country, I am listening to you. He is saying the young voters who want to see something different, I am listening to you and he's also got a partner here, I would argue she's been tough on crime, but she understands the issues and she is going to have to deal with police reform, criminal justice reform, and just as he did the recovery act when he was Vice President, maybe he's thinking, well, Kamala Harris can help me in the way that I helped Barack Obama. So I think this is a huge moment for this campaign and I also think — my colleagues reminded me that a couple of weeks ago Donald Trump was asked the question how do you rate Kamala Harris as VP? And the answer was I think she'd be a fine choice, Kamala Harris. She'd be a fine choice, so, we have to see what Donald Trump is going to have to do to her —
BROWN: We’ll have to see.
BORGER: — or going to try to do to her. Let's put it that way. We’ll see.
