Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘I Have To Beg To Differ’: Katie Couric Disputes Charlamagne’s Claim Harris Is ‘Authentic’

‘I Have To Beg To Differ’: Katie Couric Disputes Charlamagne’s Claim Harris Is ‘Authentic’

Journalist Katie Couric pushed back against radio host Charlamagne Tha God’s description of Vice President Kamala Harris as “authentic” during a Thursday podcast.

Charlamagne, on “Next Question with Katie Couric,” argued Harris’ response to him during their recent town hall when he raised criticism about her sounding “scripted,” which made him view her as genuine. Couric disagreed, saying Harris seems hesitant to say anything that might provoke backlash and tends to avoid clearly explaining “her true policy position.”

WATCH:

“I think she said something in the beginning of our conversation when I brought up the fact that people say she’s very scripted, you know, people say she sticks to her talking points. She said, ‘You’re welcome,’ you know? ‘I call that discipline.’ And it made me think about something,” Charlamagne told Couric in response to her question about his perception of Harris’ authenticity during their town hall. “I think that we’ve seen such a lack of discipline since [former President] Donald Trump came on the scene that we forgot what that looks like.”

“So when you have a politician who is in an interview or in a conversation and they’re being disciplined, as she says, and getting their message across and telling us what their policies are and, you know, detailing their policies, it’s kind of like, ‘We want to be entertained,’ right? And that’s not what I think we need from our politicians,” he added. “So, to say, do I think she was being authentic? Yeah, I think she was being authentically who she is, which is a very disciplined, seasoned veteran politician.”

Voters have criticized Harris for how she answers questions on the campaign trail, with Couric echoing some of their sentiments in response to Charlamagne.

“I have to beg to differ with you on that point. I think that she takes a really long time to get to her point, and that she does rely on talking points too often. I think she’s gotten much better than she used to, but it’s almost as if she’s afraid to say something that will later come back to haunt her,” the journalist said. “And I find the fact that she just doesn’t really articulate to me her true policy position and that she isn’t really directly answering the questions a lot of times.”

“That’s been my experience and my experience watching her. I just wish she would say, ‘This is our plan,’ or, ‘You’re right, a lot of illegal immigrants have come into this country during the Biden administration, but this is why, and this is what I want to do about it moving forward.’ You know?” she continued. “I don’t find her explanation of policy that compelling compared to, say, someone like [former President] Bill Clinton or [former President] Barack Obama.”

Charlamagne acknowledged he “can understand” Couric’s views on the vice president.

Journalist Mark Halperin said recently that Harris’ “lack of decisiveness” remains her primary weakness.

That, to me, is her Achilles’ heel; that is the thing that bedevils her,” Halperin said. “Because public speaking — she’s not a stupid person — public speaking on tough questions, even if they’re not asked in a tough way, involves on-your-feet, making decisions about what to say. And you don’t want to annoy anybody or anger anybody or commit a political error.”