Harris’s righteous frustration with the media

Donald Trump has repeatedly called the American people ‘the enemy within.’ Harris called on their better angels with a pitch-perfect case for a better way. Still, with the press, she can’t win.

At the Ellipse of the White House on Tuesday, Kamala Harris lifted people up instead of denigrating them. She offered hope instead of hateAl Drago/Bloomberg

This week Kamala Harris, in the final stretch of her campaign to win the White House — and end Donald Trump’s political career — displayed what I think is one of her most relatable traits: her frustration.

It was palpable during a “CBS Evening News” interview with Norah O’Donnell, who pressed Harris to explain why she won’t spell out what abortion restrictions she’d support.

That question, of course, is like asking someone “do you still abuse your spouse?” It assumes, falsely, that Harris has been vague about her stance on the issue of abortion, which has been a central theme of her campaign. The truth is Harris has been crystal clear about restoring and protecting abortion access, calling out Trump’s lies about Democrats supporting late-term and “after-birth” abortions, and holding Trump accountable for his role in eviscerating nearly 50 years of protections that kept abortion — and women — safe. But why let that stand in the way of trying to put a candidate on defense to make good TV?

Harris was not about to be baited.

“I’ve told you,” Harris said bluntly, raising and then clasping her hands together. O’Donnell briefly paused as if waiting for Harris to continue. But Harris stared back and punctuated her curt response with a head nod. She said what she said.

Then, with a gentle head shake as if to say “how much plainer can I put it?” Harris added: “Let’s put back in place Roe v. Wade.”

Harris’s visible irritation was righteous. Here she is running against someone who bragged about appointing the three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn constitutional protections for women’s bodily autonomy. Yet, it is she who has to explain herself?

Frustration was what I felt as I listened to Harris give an extraordinary closing argument to American voters at the Ellipse in Washington — the same place where Donald Trump stood four years earlier in front of a crowd of supporters, knowing some were armed, and sicced them on the Capitol building.

But instead of inciting an insurrection and appealing to the worst of human instincts as Trump did on Jan. 6, 2021, Harris called on the nation’s better angels. In stark contrast to Trump’s rally Sunday in New York that was marked by racist, xenophobic, and anti-LGBTQ vitriol, Harris’s address was focused on bringing the promise of American ideals within reach of everyone, regardless of how they vote.

Instead of denigrating people, she lifted them up. She offered hope instead of hate.

“I pledge to you to approach my work with the joy and optimism that comes from making a difference in people’s lives, and I pledge to be a president for all Americans,” Harris said in the speech, “and to always put country above party and self.”

It was pitch perfect, as has been much of her campaign — a gargantuan feat for any presidential hopeful, let alone one who had to ramp up a campaign just days before the party’s convention after President Biden pulled out of the race.

But rather than being able to bask in that historic moment, Harris was immediately put on the defense again, this time about a comment she didn’t even make.

During a video call with a Latino voting organization Tuesday night, Biden blasted attacks on Latino’s from Trump’s supporters as “garbage.” That spurred outrage from the right, which compared the comment to Hillary Clinton calling Trump supporters “deplorables” during her 2016 presidential bid.

And just like that, the news cycle switched in a way that proved what CNN’s Van Jones lamented last week about the double standard in the presidential race. Trump, Jones said, “gets to be lawless. [Harris] has to be flawless. That’s what’s unfair.”

Indeed. Questions reporters posed to Harris at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday morning as she prepared to depart for campaign stops in North Carolina weren’t about the upward of 75,000 who filled the National Mall to see her. They were about Biden’s misstatement, which he had already publicly clarified.

“You heard my speech last night,” Harris told reporters, trying to hide her exasperation but not quite succeeding. “Throughout my career, I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not, and as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not.”

As her comments were shown, CNN’s chyron blasted: Biden’s “garbage” comment causes controversy.

I appreciate Harris’s frustration. Her opponent has repeatedly called the American people “the enemy within,” but with the press, she can’t win.

There are good journalists who have been covering the election with clear eyes, eschewing distractions for clear reporting and analysis. Still, too many in my industry cannot shake the muscle memory of covering campaigns like sporting events, looking for drama instead of focusing on the serious stakes. The news industrial complex is overdue for a reckoning. Let’s hope democracy lasts long enough to see it.