CNN’s commentary after Kamala Harris’ town hall demonstrates “the divergent planes upon which this election is being waged”
CNN anchor Dana Bash: “Some people have asked: Is she being held to a different standard? Maybe. But that's maybe the world that she's living in.”
Written by Kayla Gogarty
Research contributions from Payton Armstrong
Published
In their discussion after Vice President Kamala Harris’ October 23 CNN town hall, the network’s anchors admitted — but then dismissed — that mainstream media are holding Harris to a “different standard” than her Republican opponent Donald Trump.
Trump and Harris held one debate on September 11, after which Trump refused further debates. Due to this, CNN invited both Harris and Trump to participate in individual town hall events, an invitation Harris accepted but Trump declined. On October 23, Harris participated in a CNN town hall with undecided Pennsylvania voters.
Following Harris' town hall, CNN anchors engaged in what journalist Aaron Rupar called “theater criticism” of Harris' performance without even acknowledging that Trump refused to even show up to take questions from voters until roughly 10 minutes into their post-event discussion.
While a focus group CNN gathered overall had positive reactions, CNN immediately criticized Harris’ performance, even admitting — and dismissing — that they are holding Harris to a “different standard” and “it's inherently unfair.”
Citation From the October 23, 2024, edition of CNN's CNN Presidential Town Hall Post Analysis
DANA BASH (ANCHOR): Some people have asked: Is she being held to a different standard? Maybe. But that's maybe the world that she's living in. And on the question of who she is, people are understanding that a little bit more. But what she will do, the question about her legislative priorities — name one. There wasn't one.
…
JOHN KING (ANCHOR): The personal part is sometimes missing. And again, it may be unfair to her, to your point about a different standard.
…
JAKE TAPPER (ANCHOR): And let me just take one second to acknowledge that when we talk about whether or not she is being held to a different standard, I mean, Donald Trump, we invited Donald Trump to be here. This was supposed to be a debate night. She accepted; he did not. So we said, OK. Let’s have two town halls. She accepted; he did not.
The reason that we are not critiquing Donald Trump's performance at a town hall this evening is because Donald Trump did not agree to participate in a town hall here in Delaware county, and she did, so, yes, it's inherently unfair. That said — we're journalists. We're going to keep talking about what we saw tonight.
BASH: No, no, no. And I’m glad you said that. Because when I — I just kind of glossed over saying is she being held to a double standard. We don't know what Donald Trump's health care plan is. He has “the concept of a plan.” We don’t know a lot of his plans are for the future. We know basic things like tariffs and others, but that's just not his thing, and the idea of Donald Trump as a president, maybe people are giving him more leeway because of what they saw in the past with the economy. Those who are very scared of what he can do in the future, they’re already not voting for him.
Writing about the town hall, The Bulwark noted these double standards:
If ever there was an illustration of the divergent planes upon which this election is being waged, it is here. It’s not just that different layers of scrutiny are being applied to Harris and Trump—in which one gets graded like a normal politician while the other sees his abnormal behavior excused or refashioned as a virtue—it’s that our collective expectations for their respective performance are galaxies apart.
Some examples of their commentary:
- Bash said, “What I'm hearing from people who I have been talking to … is that if her goal was to close the deal, they're not sure she did that,” noting that people don’t know “what she will do, the question about her legislative priorities — name one. There wasn't one.”
- Tapper asked whether Harris “did too much” criticism of Trump for his former chief of staff’s comment calling him a fascist: “I do wonder — I mean, I think after eight years of Donald Trump people are aware of Donald Trump's persona, his proclivity for controversy, his potential to offend, and the like. And I wonder if you think maybe she did too much of what Kaitlyn’s talking about.”
- King said Harris had not developed “a brand” as vice president and claimed that “the personal part is sometimes missing.”
- CNN anchor Abby Phillips even complained about the length of Harris’ answers to voters’ questions: “I kept looking for — what is the 30-second summary of this answer, and sometimes she would get to it all the way at the very end,” adding, “It's really a kind of inverted pyramid sort of thing. She needs to get to that at the beginning.”