A number of MAGA figures have mocked Vice President Kamala Harris for the responses she gave during her interview with Oprah Winfrey in Michigan.
On Thursday, the Democratic presidential candidate sat down with the talk-show veteran at a Unite for America event, which featured a host of celebrities—with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Meryl Streep and Chris Rock, who have endorsed Harris in the race, watching remotely.
During the 90-minute livestreamed interview, where Harris also took questions from the audience, the vice president discussed a number of key 2024 topics, such as abortion rights, immigration and gun violence.
A number of Donald Trump‘s supporters have mocked Harris for her at times lengthy responses during the event in the key swing state, with some suggesting that the vice president’s answers were a “word salad.”
There was also widespread praise for Harris and the event, which featured comments from Hadley Duvall, an abortion rights advocate who was raped by her stepfather as a child. Duvall also recently featured in a campaign ad for Harris.
Harris and Winfrey also welcomed the mother of Amber Nicole Thurman, a Georgia woman who died in August 2022 after not receiving timely medical care because of the state’s abortion restrictions. An official state committee has described her death as “preventable.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, with television producer Oprah Winfrey at a Unite for America livestreaming rally in Farmington Hills, Michigan, on September 19. A number of MAGA figures have criticized Harris for the event.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
During the interview, Harris told Winfrey that Americans are an “optimistic people,” adding: “Americans, by character, are people who have dreams and ambitions and aspirations. We believe in what is possible. We believe in what can be, and we believe in fighting for that.
“That’s how we came into being because the people before us understood that one of the greatest expressions for the love of our country—one of the greatest expressions of patriotism—is to fight for the ideals of who we are, which includes freedom to make decisions about your own body; freedom to be safe from gun violence; freedom to have access to the ballot box; freedom to be who you are and just be, to love who you love openly and with pride; freedom to just be.”
While sharing a clip of Harris’ comment on X, formerly Twitter, Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt said: “Kamala’s Excellent Adventure continues. An epic word salad.
“The media truly should be ashamed of itself at this point. She’s running for President of the United States of America and all we get are scripted comments or Non-sequiturs with Oprah.”
Internet personality Paul A. Szypula told his 236,000 X followers: “This might be the worst world salad ever in the political career of Kamala Harris.
“The whole time you could feel Oprah wanted her to stop. The audience looks like they’re realizing how gone Kamala is. Her campaign won’t let her do one of these again.”
During the event, a member of the audience asked Harris whether she would reintroduce a border security bill that Congress previously blocked.
Harris said: “My work and my career has always been about saying: ‘Let’s fix problems. Let’s address the needs because we know it’s within our capacity to do that.'”
Winfrey then asked Harris to answer the question firmly as to whether she would reintroduce the bill, to which the vice president replied: “Absolutely. And when I am elected president of the United States, I will make sure that bill gets to my desk, and I will sign it into law.”
Dinesh D’Souza, a 2020 election denier and the director of the documentary 2,000 Mules, wrote on X: “The person running for the most powerful position in our country can’t answer a question without Oprah next to her to step in. This is ridiculous!”
End Wokeness, a popular conservative X account, told its 3 million followers, “Oprah steps in after Kamala Harris fails to say what she’d do for the border.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Harris gave an off-the-cuff remark while discussing with Winfrey that she is a gun owner.
“If somebody breaks in my house, they’re getting shot,” Harris said, adding with a laugh: “I probably should not have said that. But my staff will deal with that later.”
Social media user Joey Mannarino, who supports Trump and has more than 547,000 followers on X, wrote, “Nothing about this woman is presidential.”
Newsweek has contacted Harris’ team for comment via email.
David Rothkopf, a former senior official in President Bill Clinton‘s administration and the CEO and editor-in-chief of the DSR Network, was among those who praised Harris for her performance, which he called “extraordinary.”
“It has heart. It is deeply moving. It is human. It is not about politics it is about people. And the Vice President is the reason it is possible,” Rothkopf wrote.
He added: “We talk about her joy and her intellect and her strength. Talk about her heart.”
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