A new book claims that Former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris made some ridiculous demands on the campaign trail.
After her first interview, which was conducted by CNN anchor Dana Bash in August, was a disaster, her team believed it was because of the chair she sat in, not the way she handled the questions.
After that interview, in which she was joined by her vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, she had a strict list of demands for interviews.
“Leg height no less than 15 inches; floor to top of seat height no less than 18.9 inches; arms on chairs may not be very high, arms must fall at a natural height; chairs must be firm,” a copy of the demands that was sent by Harris aides which was obtained by The Hill, said.
But it was not just the chair that hampered the Harris campaign.
Former President Joe Biden and his aides demanded that there be “no daylight” between her policies and his, tying her to the deeply unpopular president.
On the day of her debate with President Donald Trump, the former president offered her three words of advice: “No daylight, kid.”
As she praised his administration both in her first interview and in her debate, her campaign was, for all intents and purposes, sunk.
And when she went on the very friendly talk show “The View” for what should have been a softball interview, she made perhaps her most critical mistake.
“There is not a thing that comes to mind,” Harris famously answered when co-host Sunny Hostin asked what she would do differently than Biden in a Harris administration.
In an interview with Brian Teta after the election, Hostin said she was stunned by the response, as she intended it to be a softball question.
“Look, I think it wasn’t so much about the question, but it was really more about the answer,” Hostin told Teta.
“Not a thing comes to mind, and that’s what I followed up with,” Hostin continued. “Is there anything that you would do differently? And the reason I followed up is because that wasn’t a gotcha question. That was a layup really. It was an important question and I think one she should have expected.”
“I thought she would then say, I would build on the wins that we’ve had. And I had a laundry list of wins in my head. And she didn’t answer it that way. She said ‘not a thing comes to mind,’” Hostin added.
Below is a transcript of the exchange on the podcast about the viral moment:
BRIAN TETA, HOST: One of the things that keeps coming up is, did Sonny Hostin personally cost Kamala Harris the election with her question?
SUNNY HOSTIN: Oh wow, I wish I had that much power because I would have flipped it in the other way.
TETA: Yeah, sure. I mean, you see this like James Carville and all these pundits are saying it.
HOSTIN: Look, I think it goes to show how important this show is, you know, in this country and actually internationally.
TETA: I have to laugh because normally whenever we have a big politician on and they do well, I get all these trolls on Twitter and other places saying they gave him the questions beforehand, the questions are impromptu. I’m like, well, now we have proof. They are not. We do not do that.
HOSTIN: I will say this, it’s interesting to me. I do think it’s just clickbait and I think any headline that has the view mentioned or my name mentioned seems to go viral.
TETA: Let’s remind people what the question was. It was, what would you have done differently?
HOSTIN: I would have asked the president what she would do differently in a Biden and in Harris administration as opposed to a Biden administration.
TETA: And what if she, if anything, she wishes she could have done differently in the past four years?
HOSTIN: It’s something like that. Yeah. I followed up because I was surprised at the answer.
Look, I think it wasn’t so much about the question, but it was really more about the answer.
TETA: Not a thing comes to mind.
HOSTIN: Not a thing comes to mind and that’s I followed up with. Is there anything that you would do differently? And the reason I followed up is because that wasn’t a gotcha question. That was a layup really. It was an important question and I think one she should have expected.
That’s what I thought. I actually thought it was a chance for her to explain to all the people who are saying, I want a change agent, for her to explain that of course she has a different lived experience from President Biden. But they did have one of the most successful administrations in our country.