Kamala Harris underwhelms despite softball questions from Dana Bash in first sit-down interview

The first sit-down interview with Vice President Kamala Harris since she became the Democratic presidential candidate was underwhelming but likely didn't do any damage to her campaign.

Harris had been lambasted by critics for going so long without an unscripted interview, but that changed on Thursday night when she faced Dana Bash.

'Harris tried to avoid talking about race and gender during the interview.'

Bash challenged Harris on her switching her position on banning fracking, and she responded by leaning on her "values" rather than actual policy positions. During the interview, she relied on repeating that her values had not changed in order to avoid answering why her policies had.

Harris was also questioned on why the Biden administration had taken so long to address the immigration crisis, and she deflected the question into an attack on President Donald Trump over a failed bipartisan deal on immigration.

Harris had Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the vice presidential candidate, at her side during the debate. Bash tried to get him to respond about lies he told about his military service and IVF treatments for his wife, but he similarly ignored the questions and tried to deflect.

At one point, Bash asked Harris to talk about Trump's attacks on her identity as a black woman, and Harris refused to engage about the subject and laughed it off. Harris tried to avoid talking about race and gender during the interview and instead focused on her resume as vice president and former California attorney general.

Bash also had Harris offer some details about the call that was made by President Joe Biden when he called her to let her know he was dropping out of the race and endorsing her for president. Harris very much used the time to praise Biden and show that she was going to keep defending his policies.

Bash finished the interview by giving Walz a change to gush over his children and allowing Harris to talk about an iconic photo of her grandniece watching her speak at the Democratic National Convention.

Democratic strategist David Axelrod said on CNN afterward that she didn't move the ball forward during the interview, but she also didn't do any harm to her campaign.

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