(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl attempted to defend Vice President Kamala Harris after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., mentioned her past support for Medicare for All during a This Week interview on Sunday.
The defense did not go well, to say the least.
During the interview, Cotton compared President Donald Trump’s policies to those of Harris, who Cotton correctly mentioned, has previously supported abolishing private health insurance.
Karl pushed back, asking, “What do you mean taking away health insurance? What are you talking about?”
Cotton reminded him of Harris’s 2020 support for Medicare for All, which, by her admission, would have eliminated private health insurance.
“That is not her position now,” Karl said.
“How do you know this? How do you know this 100%? Cotton asked.
“I mean she said she no longer supports…” Karl replied, but Cotton quickly interrupted.
“She has not said that, maybe anonymous aides on a Friday night said that,” the senator remarked, highlighting that Harris had not openly disavowed her Medicare for All plan. Instead, aides had told the media she no longer supported it.
On X, critics blasted Karl for regurgitating leftist talking points.
President Donald Trump’s campaign page, Trump War Room, shared a clip of a CNN townhall between Harris and Jake Tapper. In the clip, she openly embraced Medicare for All.
“Here you go,” the page said, directing the video to Karl’s X page. It also included a separate video of Karl discussing the 2020 Democratic candidates’ endorsements of Medicare for All and abolishing ICE.
Here you go, @jonkarl pic.twitter.com/13xLU0CuoZ https://t.co/iBM8iJgttW
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 25, 2024
Other critics joined in.
“Jon Karl is one of the most incompetent uninformed ideologues I’ve ever seen get a Sunday morning show. Just breathtaking,” commented podcast host Stephen L. Miller.
“Tom Cotton applies the number one rule when dealing with the press in this clip: Never accept their false premises,” added writer Bonchie.
“Kamala doesn’t have to do interviews because she knows that the would-be interviewers are more than happy to just make her arguments on her behalf,” said Jerry Dunleavy IV, journalist and author of Kabul – The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End.
This is what happens when the press defines the candidate for them. Jonathan Karl really has no idea what she stands for. Kamala is a cipher, reporters are wish-casting what her positions are on a variety of issues because Kamala’s yet to express them publicly or even privately.
— Brian Doherty (@BDOH) August 25, 2024
Karl did not reply to Headline USA’s request for an interview or written response sent to his ABC News email on Sunday evening.
