In the latest New York Times presidential poll, coincidentally released Tuesday, Kamala Harris had a big lead—8 points—over Donald Trump in a crucial category: “Which candidate is more fun.”
And she set out to prove it last night in her first late-night appearance as the Democratic nominee on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show on CBS—especially when she downed a can a beer.
OK, took a sip from one—a Miller High Life, to be exact. Colbert noted she had asked for that brand, which conveniently hails from a swing state.
I myself was not familiar with that particular poll category, but it makes a lot of sense, particularly in a race where people are talking about eating dogs and cats, using hurricanes for political gain, canceling the Constitution, and other, not-so-fun issues.
So let’s hear it for the advantages of a fun candidate. And where better to prove your bona fides than on a late-night show?
While having a beer with Stephen Colbert, Kamala Harris says, "He lost millions of jobs. He lost manufacturing. You lost automotive plants, you lost the election. What does that make you? A loser. This is what somebody at my rallies said." pic.twitter.com/leNrj6OVV3
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 9, 2024
Admittedly the confines of the Ed Sullivan Theater provided something of a home field advantage for the Democratic nominee. Not only was this Harris’ seventh appearance with Colbert (though her first on the top of the ticket) but Colbert set her up enthusiastically in his monologue and mostly gently in his interview with her.
He even came in to work on an off week just to host her. As he noted in his monologue, this was supposed to be a dark week for The Late Show. But once the Harris campaign decided to flood the New York media zone with Kamala camaraderie on the air, and a late-night appearance was surely part of the media plan, Colbert naturally signed on.
Nobody would be surprised by her choice of late-night venue—in New York anyway. Only LA-based Jimmy Kimmel on ABC rivals Colbert for late-night aggression (outrage, opprobrium, apoplexy) directed toward Harris’ opponent.
Pretty much every late-night host that’s not a paid subsidiary of the MAGA movement hammers the previous president nightly. But Colbert and Kimmel have elevated their slings and arrows to fusillades most nights. Trump, of course, has noticed—and has fired back a quiver full of threats.
Last night Colbert opened with a parody of the intro to Monday night’s 60 Minutes campaign special which Harris agreed to join but Trump refused. Colbert’s newsman-style intro noted that his show had invited Harris and she accepted while, in the interest of fairness, they invited Donald Trump “to go BLEEP himself.”
It seems unlikely Trump will ask for equal time.
Later in the monologue, Colbert cited Harris’ experience potty training her sister’s child when her days ended with her waving goodbye to a piece of BLEEP. “And if she wins next month we all get to have the same experience.”
Harris, who for some reason was being guarded by her staff from major interviews early on, certainly showed no discomfort in being questioned during the range of appearances jammed into her New York visit. Obviously, Colbert was among the friendly interviewers. (Bill Whitaker of 60 Minutes is not known to have suggested any such anatomically difficult feats.)
But to be fair, Colbert, while far from Nolan Ryan, did not hurl the softest of soft-tosses at his guest. He asked questions about what could be done about the calamity in the Mideast, about her plan to tax billionaires, and a timely one about Trump’s alleged ongoing bromance with Vladimir Putin, as evidenced (in Bob Woodward’s latest book) by seven personal, previously unacknowledged post-presidency calls to the Russian dictator.
Harris got the chance to whack away freely at that one, expressing outrage that Trump sent COVID tests to Putin, his apparent bosom buddy. “Why aren’t the American people your first friend?” she asked, to guaranteed applause.
Kamala Harris on Trump giving Putin COVID tests, "He thinks Vladimir Putin is his friend. What about the American people? They should be your first friend." pic.twitter.com/8rslUfgzW3
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 9, 2024
Colbert also pressed a bit on a question that got some attention from Harris’ earlier appearance on The View yesterday: What major changes she would offer from the policies of her current Administration partner, Joe Biden.
Harris is obviously not going to put distance between herself and the current president so she repeated her familiar list of policies, like expanding the child care credit. But she did emphasize that she is not Joe Biden, nor is she Donald Trump. (More guaranteed applause.)
Overall both host and guest acquitted themselves well. Which makes sense: not that many guests who don’t have movies coming out or a stand-up special in the near future come back to a late-night show seven times.
Harris was clearly relaxed, composed, and—when called for—suitably censorious of her opponent. (On his debunked claims of government inattention in the wake of Hurricane Helene she called out Trump for being divisive and asked: “Have you no empathy, man?”)
Vice President Harris calls out Trump’s lies about hurricane relief: “Have you no empathy for the suffering of other people? Have you no sense of purpose? If you purport to be a leader, understand that being a leader means lifting people up in a time of need and not manipulating… pic.twitter.com/upDki9UPo1
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 9, 2024
Colbert did a mostly serious interview, with legit-enough questions—although the pro-Trump voices on television and the internet will doubtless dismiss this interview as more sucking up by liberal hosts and newspeople.
As late-night visits from presidential candidates go, it was pretty typical of that genre. No major revelations, but good exposure for the nominee to an entertainment-based program and audience.
The inescapable question that’s floating around about just about every aspect of the current race—did it move the needle at all?—did not get an immediate answer.