In the wake of Kamala Harris selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, CBS Mornings hosted far left progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and lobbed more than just softball questions as hosts Gayle King and Vladimir Duthiers aided AOC in her campaigning for the Harris ticket, making obvious the underlying political bias of the network.

In stark contrast to the media’s treatment of Donald Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, Walz is the media’s new pet, as King illustrated, “You've got Nancy Pelosi on one side, Joe Manchin, we have the progressives on the left. What does this mean, what does this say? It's been a long time since we've seen this kind of reaction.”

 

 

Ocasio-Cortez agreed, portraying Walz as a “uniter.” However, it was not enough for the group to praise the Democratic ticket, any critique of it must be rebuked as well. Gayle King questioned Republicans’ hesitance with progressives, asking:

Already the Republicans are saying, you've heard this, he's -- he's a screaming liberal, progressive. You know, people hear the word, Congresswoman, progressive, and it's like ‘ah!’ It's scary to a lot of people. What does it mean to you -- without talking points, in a sentence, what it means to you, and do you think your support helps or hurts the ticket at this point?

Ocasio Cortez took this question and ran, ignoring King’s preference for no talking points, she used the opportunity to do more campaigning:

Yeah, I think progressive means the following -- most Americans believe that money and politics has an outsized role in what happens in government. And to me, being a progressive means putting the needs of working families ahead of the needs of profit and of special interests and corporations. And so that translates into what we see in Governor Walz and the priorities of Vice President Harris like expanding health care, universal school lunches, things that we care about when we're packing lunches in the morning and having kids at home. It means putting the needs of everyday people ahead of the needs of special interests in Washington.

Following this diatribe, the interview continued with questions against the Republican Party, including Duthiers hyping, “There are some who are suggesting that the reason why the Vice President didn't pick Governor Shapiro is because of anti-Semitism, and I did see Chuck Schumer clap back at one Republican or person who’s on the right suggesting that Democrats are anti-Semitic, and Chuck Schumer obviously at the very top of power in the Democratic party as far as the Senate is concerned.”

Duthiers also wondered if Democrats are aware of just how bad Trump supposedly is, “He uses derogatory language to name the Vice President and the former President, Barack Obama. Do voters in the Democratic Party who are not following the mainstream media or who are not on Truth Social or attending or watching former President Trump's rally understand this is the kind of language that is circulating on Truth Social, for example?

Undoubtedly one of the most progressive and left-leaning congresswomen, Ocasio-Cortez represents the Harris perfectly, and CBS is all in favor.

 

The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:

CBS Mornings 

8/7/2024

08:09:15 AM EST

 

GOVERNOR TIM WALZ (D-MN): In Minnesota we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. [ Cheers ] Even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves, there's a golden rule -- mind your own damn business. [ Cheers ]

GAYLE KING: Lot of people like that rule. That's Governor Tim Walz talking about reproductive rights and other issues in his first big speech as running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris. Her choice is getting applause from the political center, including Independent Senator Joe Manchin and from the left by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She joins us now only on CBS Mornings. And we're glad to have you here.

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Of course. Thanks for having me.

KING: Thank you so much for joining us. Let's talk about the rave reviews that Governor Walz seems to be getting from all spectrums of your party. You've got Nancy Pelosi on one side, Joe Manchin, we have the progressives on the left. What does this mean, what does this say? It's been a long time since we've seen this kind of reaction.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, well, I think first and foremost it says that Governor Walz is a uniter, that Vice President Harris is picking a uniter for not just the Democratic Party but for the entire United States. And that this selection of a ticket between Vice President Harris and Governor Walz is that we are seeing every American. Rural America, suburban America, urban America, regardless of identity, that we want to see your interests and want to make sure that the things that are most important to you, putting food on the table, lowering rent and mortgages, that we see the needs of everyday Americans and we're going to fight and see them in Washington.

KING: But already the Republicans are saying, you've heard this, he's -- he's a screaming liberal, progressive. You know, people hear the word, Congresswoman, progressive, and it's like ah! It's scary to a lot of people. What does it mean to you -- without talking points, in a sentence, what it means to you, and do you think your support helps or hurts the ticket at this point? It's certainly in the middle of the country.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, I think progressive means the following -- most Americans believe that money and politics has an outsized role in what happens in government. And to me being a progressive means putting the needs of working families ahead of the needs of profit and of special interests and corporations. And so that translates into what we see in Governor Walz and the priorities of Vice president Harris like expanding health care, universal school lunches, things that we care about when we're packing lunches in the morning and having kids at home and so to me that is what progressive means, putting the needs of everyday people ahead of the needs of special interests in Washington.

VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: So let me ask about the other candidates that were in the running to be her choice for vice president. Including Governor Josh Shapiro. There are some who are suggesting that the reason why the Vice President didn't pick Governor Shapiro is because of anti-Semitism, and I did see Chuck Schumer clap back at one Republican or person who’s on the right suggesting that Democrats are anti-Semitic, and Chuck Schumer obviously at the very top of power in the Democratic party as far as the Senate is concerned.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah. I mean, we have Chuck Schumer who is an incredible leader in the United States Senate. Vice President Harris is married to Doug Emhoff who has been a profoundly wonderful figure, who is also Jewish. I think it has nothing to do with that. Vice President Kamala Harris had a very challenging -- you know she had a challenge before her, in that we have so much talent in the Democratic Party from Governor Shapiro to Governor Walz to many other people that she had to consider. I think that Governor Walz has many different assets that he brings to the table and I trust her decision in making one that is best for not just the Democratic Party but, again, the entire country.

KING: There was no mention of the war in Israel and Gaza right now. Do you think that was deliberate? Do you think that should have been mentioned or come up in some way, last night in particular?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, you know, I think that this is certainly an issue that's important to many Americans. They're going to want to ensure that we continue our efforts toward a cease fire in the region. And I'm sure that this discussion will come up certainly between now and November. But we also have a wide scope of issues, as well, that she has to address, and I think we saw a lot of that addressed last night including when Governor Walz was addressing issues like IVF and choice, as well as many other, you know, issues that are at the top of people's minds right now.

JERICKA DUNCAN: I want to turn to Representative Cori Bush, who’s part of that progressive wing known as The Squad. She lost the race yesterday and so did Jamaal Bowman here in New York. And both of them talked openly about their dissatisfaction with the war in Israel and Gaza against Hamas. What do you think that that says about The Squad and sort of the state of where you all are? Because you had so much support a few years ago and, sort of as Gayle pointed out, there's this question about where that party stands would seem to have a lot of influence and power early on in the Biden Administration.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, first I just want to speak to how courageously Representatives Bowman and Bush have served in Congress, and they spoke courageously on issues that are often very difficult to talk about in mainstream politics.

DUNCAN: Right.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: And I think that is one of the reasons why they have earned so much support because they're willing to put their careers on the line to advocate for the issues that they think and viewpoints that they think are right. What I do think it means is that there is an enormous amount of influence of big money in politics. Cori Bush's race was the second most expensive primary in American history. Jamaal Bowman's race was the most expensive primary in American history. And all that money was spent against them by a big money system of Super PACs and difficult to trace political contributions. That to me speaks to the corrupting role of our current campaign finance system and the fact that it is very hard to be a working class American that gets elected to office and stay in office. And to me, I think that that those defeats speak to the more urgent need for us to continue to advocate on these issues, and I do continue to believe that they represent many of the views of many Americans, as well.

DUTHIERS: Congresswoman, I want to quickly ask you about this Truth Social post from the former President of the United States, Donald Trump. And in it he suggests that this is unconstitutional, what's happening with the Vice President. He uses derogatory language to name the Vice President and the former President, Barack Obama. Do voters in the Democratic Party who are not following the mainstream media or who are not on Truth Social or attending or watching former President Trump's rally understand this is the kind of language that is circulating on Truth Social, for example?

CASIO-CORTEZ: You know, I -- first of all, there aren't a lot of Americans on Truth Social, to your point.  And so I do believe that when the president deploys or when former President Trump deploys his most extreme rhetoric, he is doing it in very contained spaces to a very defined audience that is almost primed for some of this most extreme rhetoric. And when he's deploying this kind of extremist rhetoric, he's not doing it in broad channels that most Americans can see. He's doing it on Truth Social, he’s doing it these smaller rallies where some of the most rabid and extremist elements that we see really get riled up. And so I don't think a lot of people are aware of the extent to which, whether it's his rhetoric in which he's using derogatory terms about Vice President Harris to the finer details of Project 2025 where he's talking about eliminating and the Republican Party's talking about eliminating the Department of Education on a federal level which is what allows us to be able to try to even the playing field for kids in rural communities and urban communities alike.

DUTHIERS: Thank you, Congresswoman. Appreciate you being here as always. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. We'll be right back.