Former President Trump is stepping up the pressure on CNN's Dana Bash ahead of a scheduled interview with Vice President Harris and running mate Tim Walz on Thursday.
“CNN's Dana Bash has a chance for greatness today,” Trump wrote on his website, Truth Social. “If she were to give Comrade Kamala Harris a fair and tough interview, she would expose her as totally incompetent and unfit for the office of the President, just as I exposed Joe Biden as a scumbag in our now famous debates. How great would that be for Dana and CNN???”
CNN announced this week that Bash had arranged the first interview with Harris since she accepted the Democratic presidential nomination. A source familiar with the network's plans told The Hill this week that the conversation will be recorded during the day on Thursday, while Harris travels by bus around Georgia.
Trump and other Republicans have criticized Harris for weeks for not giving media interviews or other unscripted live events during her campaign since Biden dropped out of the presidential race last month and Harris became the Democratic nominee.
Bash was one of two CNN anchors who moderated the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden in June. His performance at the debate sparked widespread questions about his intellectual competence and prompted immediate calls from Democratic lawmakers for him to resign.
Bash and moderator Jake Tapper came under fire from many observers during the first debate for not doing enough real-time fact-checking, particularly of Trump's false and misleading claims.
“Dana and Jake were fair and firm in their debate with me and CNN's Crowded Joe,” Trump wrote on Thursday. “This is Dana Bash's chance to become a true star while also making a major contribution to our now-fading country. Good luck, Dana, do the right thing!!!”
Bash's interview with Harris and Waltz will air on the network in primetime Thursday at 9 p.m.
