Earlier this year, Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris botched an interview with a Muslim social media personality so badly, it had to be deep-sixed.

TikTok and Instagram star Kareem Rahma hosts “Subway Takes,” a popular show where he asks ordinary people for their hot takes on a New York City subway. Rahma, who has more than 928,000 followers combined on TikTok and Instagram, interviewed both Harris and her running mate Tim Walz back in August.   Walz’s interview, in which he discussed how Americans fail to maintain their homes’ gutters, was posted on August 28, but the awkward Harris interview never aired.

Rahma told the New York Times that in discussions with Harris’s campaign staff and the Democratic National Committee ahead of the interview,  he had proposed that they talk about the Israel-Hamas War “perhaps at the end of the episode,” but the subject was rejected. Instead,  according to the Times, Rahma said he was advised that Harris “would be taking a stand against removing one’s shoes on airplanes.”

But according to Times reporter, Reggie Ugwu, who was able to view an unpublished video recording of the interview, that topic was apparently jettisoned by the campaign because when Harris sat down with the Muslim influencer, she changed the subject to something entirely else.

“Bacon is a spice!” she declared, apparently oblivious to the fact that she was speaking with someone who doesn’t eat pork for religious reasons.

“I don’t know,” he said, “his voice rising to an unusually high pitch,” according to Ugwu.

Harris reportedly continued undeterred, telling Rahma that bits of cooked bacon can be used to enhance meals, just like any other seasoning. “Think about it, it’s pure flavor,” she allegedly gushed, in what seems like an attempt to appeal to male voters, but which ended up offending her host.

Rahma, trying to be a good sport, reportedly asked Harris if he could use beef or turkey instead, and wondered what kinds of recipes would benefit from bacon.

Then, according to the Times, he paused the interview, revealed to Harris that he doesn’t actually eat pork,  and asked if they could talk about the airplane thing instead.

Reportedly, “on the advice of a staffer,” Harris then decided “to declare her love of anchovies on pizza,” which was an “alternative topic the campaign had floated earlier in an email.” It was not immediately clear how declaring a pro-anchovy stance would have been politically beneficial to Harris.

“Well, “I’m 100 percent unsure on both of those,” ” Rahma reportedly said “with an awkward laugh.”  He then threw in the towel and ended the interview.

Rahma confided to Ugwu that he’d had reservations about interviewing Harris because he was not allowed to discuss the Middle East.

“It was so complicated because I’m Muslim and there’s something going on in the world that 100 percent of Muslims care about,” he told the New York Times. “And then they made it worse by talking about anchovies. Boring!”

“I never wanted to be a politics person,” Rahma added. “The more I think about it, the more I feel like I got lucky.”

Two senior Harris campaign officials told the Times that Rahma had been told that Harris would talk about bacon instead of politics.

However, Rahma and his manager both insisted they received no such warning.