Harris gives another substanceless and confusing interview before the National Association of Black Journalists

Vice President Kamala Harris gave her second solo interview since announcing her candidacy before a panel of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), who were clearly disappointed by the Democratic candidate's substance-free answers.

In an enjoyable conversation compared to the one they had with Trump in that same space weeks earlier, Harris failed to answer the key question about whether Americans are better off than they were four years ago (repeating her answer from the presidential debate and her first interview before ABC News). She also spread misinformation about the unemployment rate during the end of the Trump administration at the height of the pandemic, gave a confusing answer about her stance on assault weapons and generated murmurs among those present when asked about what her foreign policy would look like, especially on Israel.

Some progressive media, such as NBC News and Politico, remarked that the Democratic vice president is adopting an unconventional strategy during her interviews: "Not generating headlines."

In particular, NBC reviewed that the reporters on the panel -Tonya Mosley of NPR, Gerren Keith Gaynor of TheGrio and Eugene Daniels of Politico- "repeatedly pressed Harris for direct answers on other topics, interrupting her multiple times when she veered away from the subject or rambled."

The network stated that the Democratic candidate dodged controversial moments, especially when Mosley interrupted her during an answer on gun control by laughing uncomfortably as she cut off the reporter's counter-answer.

At that point, Harris was asked about what she would do about handguns when she stated that she favored banning assault weapons.

Mosley pointed out that handguns are used for approximately 59% of murders in the United States and that her proposed assault weapons ban would instead only address a small part of the problem.

Harris appeared uncomfortable with the correction and gave an odd response, claiming that she has protested a "gun show" in the past.

"I also have been adamant for years and in fact I myself have protested at a gun show probably 10-15 years ago about the gun show loophole and the need to close that," the vice president said trying to give an accurate answer.

The confusing answer about assault weapons and handguns was, in fact, the interview's tone, which had already become quite convoluted at the beginning thanks to the Democratic candidate's interventions.

The panel's first question was straightforward: Are Americans better off than they were four years ago? Harris gave a four-minute answer in which she thanked the organization for the space and dedicated herself to contextualizing the situation the country was in when she took office as vice president. However, in all that time, she did not answer the question.

"First of all let me just say it is good to be with the National Association of Black Journalists and I thank you for the work you do and that your members do every day. It is very important that we ensure that this organization and your members always have the resources and the platforms to deliver the voices that must be heard. So I thank you for hosting me today. Four years ago when we came in, we came in during the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. We came in during the worst public health epidemic in centuries. We came in after the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. And a lot of it due in large part to the mismanagement by the former president as it relates to COVID and obviously January 6th."

Journalist Alex Thompson of Axios corrected Harris on X, verifying her false claim that she took office at the "worst unemployment since the Great Depression," a phrase the vice president has said several times on the campaign trail.

In reality, by December 2020, unemployment had fallen back to 6.4%, recovering from the major economic contraction generated by the pandemic due to confinements and the slowdown in trade. However, under Trump, the economy was already in a rebound effect that economists labeled "logical" at the time.

In addition to giving confusing answers on the economy and guns, Harris failed to convince those present of her foreign policy, where she deferred to Joe Biden's approach. When asked if she would issue an executive order to create a commission to study reparations, she was also unclear.

According to NBC News, the 150 in attendance, 100 of whom were college students, began "to show discomfort" with Harris's answers, especially when she addressed the issue of the war between Israel and Hamas, coming out in favor of the release of hostages in Gaza and a two-state "solution."

"I absolutely believe that this war has to end, and it has to end as soon as possible, and the way that will be achieved is by getting a hostage deal and the cease-fire deal done, and we are working around the clock to achieve that end," Harris said. This provoked a reaction from one of the panelists, impatient to hear the Democrat's proposals.

"We wanted to ask her questions and get answers that we may not have heard before," Gaynor said. "We prepared long and hard to present issues she might not have addressed in the past."