MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday, and even as their conversation went to air, Ruhle was already making excuses for the presidential candidate and her consistent inability to give clear answers about any of her policies.

Ruhle told fellow MSNBC host Chris Hayes, “One could watch and say she didn’t give a clear and direct answer. And that’s okay, because we’re not talking about clear and direct issues.”

WATCH:

Ruhle: "One could watch and say she didn't give a clear and direct answer. And that's okay, because we're not talking about clear and direct issues."

Embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/gxsNDzRXAV

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 25, 2024

Harris became the Democratic Party’s candidate — largely by default — when President Joe Biden was effectively forced out of the contest by prominent members and large-dollar donors within his own party. But since leap-frogging to the top of her party’s ticket — despite never winning a single primary vote on her own merits — Harris has rarely taken questions, and even more rarely, attempted to answer them.

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Her attempts on Wednesday appear to have fallen flat, judging from Ruhle’s rapid attempts to run cover for her, and several video clips of her answers suggested that she was delivering more of the same rambling, unintelligible non-answers that have marked her tenure as vice president.

When asked how she intended to fight price gouging — which she has promised to do despite having no evidence that it is actually happening — without implementing Soviet-style price controls, she pivoted.

“So, just to be very frank, I am never going to apologize for going after companies and corporations that take advantage of the desperation of the American people,” Harris said, but made no real move to answer the question. Instead, she rambled some more about disasters like weather-related events or the COVID pandemic and repeated her promise to prevent price gouging.

“Yes, I’m going to go after them, yeah, I’m going to go after them, and that’s part of a more comprehensive plan on what we can do to bring down the cost of living, including housing, including the everyday needs of the American people,” she continued.

WATCH:

Kamala fails to explain how she plans on tackling "price gouging" without implementing price controls.

That's exactly what her plan is — Venezuelan style price controls. pic.twitter.com/zcboNd9mTU

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 25, 2024

Ruhle’s interview, as MSNBC’s Public Relations team noted when they announced it, marked Harris’ first solo network appearance since becoming the candidate. She did one pre-recorded interview with friendly CNN anchor Dana Bash, but her running mate Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) had been by her side for that. Prior to landing the interview, Ruhle argued on comedian Bill Maher’s show that it didn’t matter whether or not Harris ever answered any real policy questions, arguing that what truly mattered was that she was not former President Donald Trump.