Someone may need to tell CNN host Jake Tapper that President-elect Biden has already appointed a press secretary (and who happens to be a former colleague of that anchor). Because Tapper’s Thursday interview was more than just softball, given his jokes about Biden’s protective boots and playful questions about what Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris would call her husband in office. And most of the time he examined her from the left.
Tapper began his violent interrogation with this Zinger about the boot Biden had to wear after breaking his foot while playing with his dog:
TAPPER: Before we start, don’t wear your big boot anymore, but you have your –
BIDEN: Well I wear the big boot most of the time, but when I get out of here it’s just a little clumsy so they gave me this little thing to work with.
TAPPER: How is your foot and what happened?
A better question Tapper could have asked would have been why Biden had refused to allow the press pool to leave the hospital. Instead, the only video of his release came from someone watching from a distance.
A few minutes later, Tapper bizarrely deviated from a question whereby Biden picked one of his toughest major competitors as his fellow contender for the title Harris would give her husband Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman or the second guy (click “Expand” ):
TAPPER: [B]By the way, is he the second gentleman? Is he the second guy? What should – what should we call him?
KAMALA HARRIS: [Laughter] Well, I think the term has evolved into the second gentleman.
TAPPER: The second gentleman.
HARRIS: Yeah. Yes.
TAPPER: I like the second guy, but I’ll procrastinate.
HARRIS: I think some of his friends tend to say that.
Tapper was pleased that she called him “sweetheart”.
One of the questions Tapper probably thought was a blast was to push Biden to fill his cabinet with more people from the far left. “Last month, Senator Bernie Sanders told the Associated Press it would be “hugely offensive” if your cabinet, the Biden-Harris cabinet, ignored progressive votes. Who would you point to now as the leading progressive voice in the cabinet?, “he asked.
That question led to a strange interaction where Harris apparently thought Tapper was going to ask for an interview and asked if he was a “progressive”. Biden rang the ring shortly afterwards and seemed to forget the name of the man he had nominated to head the Ministry of Homeland Security (Alejandro Mayorkas).
Here was this interaction (click “Expand”):
HARRIS: Well, we’re not done yet, Jake. So we’re not even halfway there. I think we should have this conversation when we’re done. But–
TAPPER: Is that another interview offer that you are doing because I will accept it?
HARRIS: Do you consider yourself progressive? [Laughter]
TAPPER: No.
BIDEN: Department of Homeland Security. Many people are progressive.
TAPPER: Homeland Security?
BIDEN: Yes. No I am serious.
TAPPER: He’s a progressive?
BIDEN: Yes.
The only time Tapper showed negative emotions during the interview was when he resented Biden’s optimism about working with Republicans. “Why haven’t you spoken to McConnell and how can you be optimistic about working with a group of people who have not even acknowledged that you are the president-elect?” he wanted to know.
Towards the end of the interview, Tapper pressed the duo on how Harris wanted President Trump to be prosecuted immediately, but Biden wouldn’t order the Justice Department to target Trump:
During last year’s primaries, Ms.-elected vice-president, you told NPR that the Justice Department quoted “I have no choice but to pursue President Trump” and that “there must be accountability”. How does that fit with what the president-elect just said, about not telling the Justice Department to take care of individuals?
Tapper ended the interview by weakly asking Biden what was on his mind. What a big job.
The transcript is below, click “Expand” to read:
The Joe Biden & Kamala Harris Interview: A CNN Special Event
3rd December 2020
9:01:46 p.m. East
(…)
JAKE TAPPER: Before we start, don’t wear your big boot anymore, but you have your –
JOE BIDEN: Well I wear the big boot most of the time, but when I get out of here it’s just a little clumsy so they gave me this little thing to work with.
TAPPER: How is your foot and what happened?
(…)
9:19:26 a.m. East
TAPPER: What was – she was one of your fiercest competitors in the early days of elementary school, and now she and Doug Emhoff – what is he the second gentleman by the way? Is he the second guy? What should – what should we call him?
KAMALA HARRIS: [Laughter] Well, I think the term has evolved into the second gentleman.
TAPPER: The second gentleman.
HARRIS: Yeah. Yes.
TAPPER: I like the second guy, but I’ll procrastinate.
HARRIS: I think some of his friends tend to say that. [Laughter]
TAPPER: But you call him the second gentleman?
HARRIS: No, I’ll call him sweetheart.
TAPPER: You will call him darling.
[Laughter]
TAPPER: Okay.
(…)
9:23:47 p.m. East
TAPPER: Last month, Senator Bernie Sanders told the Associated Press it would be “hugely insulting” if your cabinet, the Biden-Harris cabinet, ignored progressive votes. Who would you point to now as the leading progressive voice in the cabinet?
HARRIS: Well, we’re not done yet, Jake. So we’re not even halfway there. I think we should have this conversation when we’re done. But–
TAPPER: Is that another interview offer that you are doing because I will accept it?
HARRIS: Do you consider yourself progressive? [Laughter]
TAPPER: No.
BIDEN: Department of Homeland Security. Many people are progressive.
TAPPER: Homeland Security?
BIDEN: Yes. No I am serious.
TAPPER: He’s a progressive?
BIDEN: Yes. And there are a number of progressives that –
(…)
9:25:10 a.m. East
TAPPER: When you take office the Senate will either be 50-50 – that’s the best case for you – or Republican control. Many Republican senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, haven’t even called you to congratulate you or publicly say that you are the president-elect but just acknowledge the basic reality. You have retained your ability to work with McConnell and have remained optimistic.
Why haven’t you spoken to McConnell and how can you be optimistic about working with a group of people who have not even acknowledged that you are the president-elect?
BIDEN: I say that tactfully.
TAPPER: You don’t have to be tactful.
BIDEN: No, I’m doing that because I don’t want to – there have been more than several sitting Republican senators calling me privately and congratulating me. And I understand the situation they are in.
(…)
9:42:40 a.m. East
TAPPER: During last year’s primaries, Madam Vice President, you told NPR that the Justice Department “had no choice but to pursue President Trump” and that “there must be accountability.”
How does that fit with what the president-elect just said, about not telling the Justice Department to take care of individuals?
(…)
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