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‘Master of words’ Kamala Harris tries to explain spy balloon’s impact on US-China relations

February 18, 2023 | | Print Article

The saga of the Chinese spy balloon would not be complete without comment from Vice President Kamala Harris and, as usual, the “master of words” did not disappoint with her assessment of it being “not helpful.”

(Video: MSNBC)

A year after Harris had been dispatched to the Munich Security Conference in Germany to tout how the threat of sanctions would be enough to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine, her loquaciousness was back to befuddle as the world teetered on the edge of another potential global conflict.

Unlike before when she had addressed the press pool, this go-’round the vice president sat down for a one-on-one with MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell.

During the interview that aired Friday, Harris attempted to sum up the United States’ position on China in her trademark style akin to a fourth grader who’d fallen asleep in class and wasn’t really sure what the question was.

“We will maintain the perspective that we have in terms of what should be the relationship between China and the United States,” she said. “That is not going to change, but surely and certainly that balloon was not helpful, which is why we shot it down.”

Of course, Harris has never been stingy when it comes time to wax eloquent on the topic of the day and she made certain to further explain the administration’s logic behind shooting down the spy balloon to Mitchell when she said, “As it relates to the Chinese balloon, we shot it down because it needed to be shot down because we were confident that it was used by China to spy on the American people.”

Harris was also kind enough to provide an update on her political aspirations with regard to the 2024 presidential election that, while likely meant to be a dodge from her, sounded more like reassurance to the concerned Americans witnessing yet another word salad after she insisted her future was remaining on a ticket with President Joe Biden.

“But when you present, the, the, the suggestion that anyone is saying, um, that, that it is time for a new generation, and they’re running against the person who is president, um, and it, when presented as though it’s an attack, I would like to let, let us all be clear that the attack is misplaced,” Harris said. “If the point of it is that we need leadership that is strong, because we have a strong leader in Joe Biden.”

Mitchell mercifully ended the interview at that point as she herself seemed to struggle to find the words, “Thank you very much, Madam Vice President. Thank you for your time.”

After the spectacle, one user couldn’t help but point out what beleaguered White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had said about the hierarchy of messengers from the administration.

Kevin Haggerty
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