A CNN host pressed Vice President Kamala Harris’ former comms director Monday over her new messaging “shift” during a “CNN This Morning” panel.
The hosts questioned Jamal Simmons, the former communications director, about the 2024 Republican presidential primary candidates taking aim at the Vice President rather than solely focusing on President Joe Biden.
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When it came to Simmons’ turn, he argued the criticism against Harris is a “bank shot” to attack Biden. (RELATED: ‘This Was A Good Week,’ Kamala Harris Says Amid Approval Rating Disaster And Reports Of ‘Dysfunction’)
“This is a really complicated argument for Republicans to make and it’s silly. It’s a bank shot, right? You have to hit Kamala Harris in order to go after Joe Biden, and that means you go to ask voters to do two things at the same time. And it seems to me that it’s a simpler argument. Either you think Joe Biden should be president or you don’t think Joe Biden should be president. To go after the Vice President, I think is a little more complicated and voters usually don’t make strategic voting decisions. They vote for the person they want.”
CNN host Poppy Harlow cited a piece from The New York Times which labeled Harris a “one woman rapid response operation” as Harris has started being increasingly vocal about abortion legalization and condemning Florida’s education curriculum on African American history.
A majority of Americans have continued to disapprove of the Vice President. Harris holds a 52% disapproval rating while 39% approve of her, according to FiveThirtyEight.
In June, Harris reached the lowest vice presidential favorability rating in NBC News poll history with a net-negative rating of -17.