You would think that Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t wanting for attention right now.
To the surprise of many, she’s become the media’s darling since taking over the role as designated Democrat standard-bearer from President Joe Biden, despite the fact she didn’t run in a single primary or hasn’t answered a single question from them.
If you thought the cold shoulder would attract media criticism, you obviously don’t know our media. Uncomfortable with even broaching the issue of Joe Biden’s age, they now can breathe a sigh of relief at not having to ask anything of the woman who usurped him, showering her with all kinds of adulation.
However, the spotlight wasn’t on her or her campaign on Monday, but rather on Elon Musk and Donald Trump, the GOP nominee. Over 1.3 million listeners tuned in to the conversation, according to Reuters — which, in typical Reuters-ish fashion, called the affair “rambling.” (Conversations that take place over three hours do happen to touch on a wide range of subjects, in case you’ve never had one, but I digress.)
This was one day, however. Surely Harris could deal with one day of being out of the spotlight without going nuts, right?
Well, if that were the case, we wouldn’t be here talking about it. In an unhinged campaign email sent out before the event, Harris’ people inveighed against Musk for hosting the event and called Trump “unhinged.” A bit of projection there, as you’ll quickly see.
“Right now, Elon Musk is interviewing Donald Trump live on Twitter (we’re not calling it ‘X’),” the email began.
“It’s not enough that Musk has pledged to donate millions of dollars to help reelect Trump,” it continued.
“He’s using his purchased platform — one of the largest social media sites in the world — to spread Trump’s unhinged and hateful agenda to millions of users.”
Will Trump win?
“If that’s all you need to hear, chip in $25 now to help Kamala and Tim have the resources to respond to their lies.”
But, wait: Weren’t tech titans supposed to be able to moderate their walled gardens how they liked? That’s the line we heard when Facebook was cracking down on free speech. That’s the line we heard when Twitter — now X, we’re calling it that — was in different hands and taking a more censorious approach to information. And don’t Harris and running mate Tim Walz have plenty of tech titans in their corner to make sure they have the resources at hand to “respond to their lies” with lies of their own?
Well, yes. But those were and are all good things because those were liberal tech titans who were doing those sorts of things. Elon Musk lets people have freedom of speech on X, and we can’t have that.
“Musk has already ruined Twitter by allowing hate speech and disinformation to flood the platform,” the email added. “Now, Musk is using his vast fortune and broad reach to try and control our democracy.”
JUST IN: The Harris Campaign releases unhinged campaign email, suggests Elon Musk controls democracy in America.
The desperate email blasted Musk for “allowing hate speech and disinformation” on X.
“The richest person in the world is a lackey for Team MAGA. Musk already ruined… pic.twitter.com/LeIVwVpww6
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 13, 2024
Not that they provide any statistics to back this up. I forget: Do assertions like this count as disinformation, misinformation or malinformation? Enquiring minds want to know.
We’d hate to increase the “broad reach” of this “unhinged and hateful agenda” here. So, whatever you do, don’t click on this post, because it’s a recording of the conversation. Don’t give them air, people! Whatever you do!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2024
Of course, there’s one problem with this: If Harris wants an evening on her own with Musk, she’s perfectly welcome to it. But don’t just take my word for it:
Happy to host Kamala on an Spaces too
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
And while Musk may have a dog in this fight, it’s hardly like Harris giving an interview to Tucker Carlson.
Musk has an open mind and is, above all else, a consummate showman when it comes to social media. It’d be as fair an interview as Kamala could hope for from a slightly adversarial force. But she doesn’t want it. She doesn’t want an interview, period. She just wants praise and an easy time of it. And if she doesn’t get it, she’s going to stomp her feet until everyone else plays along, because she seems terrified of the alternative: actually having to win this election on the issues, not on positive press.
Is this a skill set that we want in our next president? Because that’s what she brings to the table, in case the email didn’t clue you in.
