CNN's Dana Bash snags Harris-Walz interview, has history of ripping Trump
Bash was handpicked by the Harris campaign
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN's Dana Bash, who has a history of hostility towards former President Trump and favoritism towards Democrats, landed Vice President Kamala Harris’ coveted first sit-down interview as the Democratic nominee.
All eyes will be on Harris, who had gone 38 days as of Wednesday without holding a formal press conference or sitting down for a one-on-one interview since emerging as the Democratic nominee. It’s also a critical event for Bash, who was handpicked by the Harris campaign after reporters from essentially every news outlet jockeyed for the gig.
Americans want to know where Harris stands on key issues – even her own supporters like Van Jones have suggested she wasn't being authentically progressive during her 2020 presidential campaign – and she has already been widely criticized for having her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, accompany her for the interview. It will be up to Bash to ensure Harris faces tough questions, but a look at her past rhetoric would presumably leave voters hoping for a neutral journalist with a sour taste in their mouths.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}KAMALA HARRIS GRANTS FIRST INTERVIEW TO CNN AFTER WEEKS OF AVOIDING PRESS, TO BE JOINED BY TIM WALZ
CNNs Dana Bash landed Vice President Kamala Harris’s coveted first sit-down interview as Democratic nominee. (CNN)
Bash argued in March that even if the Supreme Court was technically correct when it sided unanimously with Trump in his challenge to the state of Colorado’s attempt to kick him off the 2024 primary ballot, it was a dark outcome for America itself.
"Unfortunately for America, the court isn‘t necessarily wrong that this is the way the framers wanted it to be … they wanted Congress, the people who are closest to their constituents, to be able to make the rules of the laws," Bash told CNN viewers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She declared earlier this year that the world is "upside down" because Trump was leading President Biden – at the time the presumptive Democratic nominee – in Michigan on the Israel-Gaza war.
"It’s hard to imagine that Donald Trump will be any more sympathetic to what is going on in Gaza than Joe Biden is," Bash said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN host Dana Bash spoke about how some speakers at the DNC appeal to men in a way that starkly contrasts with some of those who spoke at the RNC. (CNN)
Bash recently said that Democrats are working to win the support of men who prefer speakers such as Gov. Walz and second gentleman Doug Emhoff to wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, who famously tore off his shirt to announce support for Trump at last month’s Republican National Convention. She appeared to suggest that wrestling or gun fans were unlikely to be respectable male role models.
"They are doing so in trying to put forward male figures, Tim Walz being one of them, Doug Emhoff last night, who can speak to men out there who might not be the sort of testosterone-laden, you know, gun-toting kind of guy who wants to listen to Hulk Hogan and the kind of players that came out at the RNC," Bash said.
Bash torched Trump earlier this year over what she called "antisemitic and incredibly dangerous" rhetoric towards Jewish people who vote for Democrats, suggesting similar rhetoric was "used in Nazi Germany."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump had said that any Jewish person that votes for Democrats "should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed," which bothered the CNN anchor.
"Let’s recognize this comment for what it is: a longstanding antisemitic trope that the true allegiance for Jews is to their religion rather than their country. It was used in Nazi Germany to justify the arrests, persecutions, and mass killings that attempted extermination of the Jewish people. And Trump has been pushing this trope for years," Bash later told viewers before playing a clip of Trump's comments.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNNs Dana Bash complained about the DOJs lack of "humanity" in its treatment of Hunter Biden. (Screenshot/CNN)
Last year, Bash appeared to get emotional on air as she called for "humanity" from the Justice Department in its treatment of Hunter Biden.
"And you know, God forbid we bring humanity into this but to be, you know, sort of stringing along and to be having a person's life in limbo - and we're talking about Hunter Biden, and we're talking about his family and, you know, frankly, the president's family," Bash told CNN viewers.
"Taking politics aside, if you change the name from Hunter Biden to Joe Smith, you would say, 'You know what, that's not really fair,'" she continued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2022, Bash also went to bat for President Biden as he was being criticized over his "semi-fascism" jab against Republicans, insisting he was "specifically talking about Trump supporters," which represents tens of millions of Americans.
Bash interviewed Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who denounced Biden's comments as "horribly insulting." The following day, Bash appeared on CNN to recap the interview, explaining that she pressed Sununu over whether he sees "any element" of the GOP that can be described as "semi-fascist," and he conceded there are elements of "fascism and White supremacy in America."
"But he then went back to the notion that he felt that President Biden was painting all of the party that way, which, to be fair, again, we weren't in that meeting, we weren't in the fundraiser, but the way it read was that Biden was specifically talking about Trump supporters," Bash said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bash’s ex-husband, Obama administration official Jeremy Bash, was also among more than 50 former intelligence officials that wrongly suggested Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop was Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The authenticity of Biden's laptop has since been verified by investigators and media outlets, and the letter and the initial Politico report on it came under severe ridicule.
Bash will tape the interview with Harris and Walz on Thursday afternoon in Georgia, and it will air on Thursday night.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}One point for Bash's defenders: Trump has said that Bash and fellow CNN host Jake Tapper treated him fairly during the June presidential debate, which was widely viewed as a Trump victory and a debacle for Biden. The fallout from that debate was immense; less than a month later, Biden was out of the 2024 race under pressure from powerful Democratic leaders.
CNN dismissed any concerns about Bash.
"Dana Bash is a well-respected veteran journalist who has covered politics and politicians in Washington for over three decades. She has extensive experience interviewing major political figures and is highly qualified to interview both Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz. We look forward to their conversation," a CNN spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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Fox News Digital’s David Rutz, Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Alexander Hall contributed to this report.