After 5 Weeks With No Interviews, Team Harris Eyes Sitdown With Kamala Donor Gayle King

CBS News host, who said Harris gave her ‘goosebumps,’ contributed $10k to Dem nominee’s 2010 AG campaign

As Kamala Harris faced pressure to schedule her first formal interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, her campaign contemplated who should conduct the sitdown. The leading options, according to Politico, included CBS Mornings co-anchor Gayle King, a Harris donor who has said Harris’s rise to the vice presidency gave her “goosebumps.”

King’s fulsome praise for Harris during last week’s Democratic convention may also have boosted her stock in Wilmington. “When I hear people say I will vote for Kamala Harris because she is a black woman, she is so much more than that,” King said Wednesday. “She’s so uniquely qualified to be president of this country.”

When King worked as an editor at best friend Oprah Winfrey’s O magazine, she forked over $9,000 to Harris’s 2010 campaign for attorney general, campaign finance disclosures show.

The 69-year-old King, who has been spotted frolicking on yachts with Democrats from Barack Obama to David Geffen and Jeff Bezos, also showered Harris with praise following Joe Biden’s election, lauding her as a historic politician.

“Kamala Harris speaks to what is possible in this country,” she said at the time. “It gives me goosebumps thinking about what this really means to so many different women in this country.”

CBS did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether the network would disclose King’s donation should she interview the vice president.

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Winfrey, who has described King as the “mother I never had,” “sister everybody would want,” and “friend that everybody deserves,” heaped similar praise on Harris during her remarks at last week’s convention.

“We’re so fired up we can’t wait to leave here and do something. And what we’re going to do is elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States,” Winfrey said during her primetime speaking slot. “Common sense tells you that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can give us decency and respect. They’re the ones that give it to us.”

King has a long history of hobnobbing with Democratic celebrities and politicians. She joined Winfrey on a star-studded yacht vacation with Barack and Michelle Obama in Tahiti in 2017. A CBS insider told Page Six the network’s reporters were “pissed and raving mad” at the move.

“The old-school people were talking about it. She shouldn’t be doing that,” the source said. “She’s an anchor of a news program that covers the White House. You’re held to a different standard.”

Winfrey and King were photographed together last month at the Sun Valley conference in Idaho, known as the “summer camp for billionaires.”

Harris has faced increased criticism over her failure to conduct a formal interview since replacing Biden at the top of the ticket roughly five weeks ago. During that time, she has made a 180-degree turn on issues such as oil and gas drilling, illegal border crossings, Medicare for All, and mandatory gun buybacks. Harris has not explained what prompted the reversals, instead deploying anonymous aides to issue statements denouncing her past far-left policy positions.

Still, Harris has privately rejected the notion she needs to sit down for a “big showy interview,” according to Politico. Her campaign is considering race and gender as it determines who to tap for interviews.

“Almost everyone we talked to said Harris will consider race and gender in making her choice, and that she would be keen to sit down with a Black and/or female reporter, though nobody believes that’s a requirement,” the outlet reported.

Harris is also hesitant to allow Walz, her vice presidential nominee, to conduct “big solo interviews” on his own, expressing concern that he “might not have a full command of where Harris is on every issue,” according to Politico. Instead, the outlet reported that the pair could conduct joint interviews, which “tend to be softer and focus more on the relationships between the two candidates.” Hours later, CNN announced that it will air a joint interview with Harris and Walz, conducted by Dana Bash, on Thursday.

There is no indication the campaign is concerned that Bash will press Walz on his numerous prevarications. It’s also unclear whether the campaign intends to schedule a solo Harris interview in the near future.

Update 5:30 p.m.: This piece has been updated with additional information.