CNN panelist calls out media 'rooting' for Kamala Harris: 'Let's ask serious questions'

Manhattan Institute president Reihan Salam called on members of the media to apply more scrutiny to Vice President Harris and question the "left-wing positions" she advocated for in the past.

"There was a brief moment for about three weeks, between the presidential debate and between when Biden stepped out of the race, when actually a lot of the media was doing its job, it was holding powerful peoples' feet to the fire. It was asking tough questions. There are a lot of folks who were really embarrassed by not having been applying more scrutiny. And now what you see, is a total suspension of that scrutiny," Salam told a CNN panel Monday night.

"And I think a lot of people want to see the media doing its job. Let’s ask serious questions about Kamala Harris‘ record. Let’s ask about the quite stridently left-wing positions she was taking as recently as 2020, has she really changed her mind? What exactly has she been doing in the White House?" he said.

Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president after President Biden announced he was dropping out of the race. Democrats quickly rallied around Harris after the announcement.

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CNN host Abby Phillip pushed back and said she knew Harris' position on issues because journalists had asked her about it.

Salam responded, "There are some who are making an earnest attempt to do their jobs. But there are a lot of others who I think, frankly, feel a sense of animal spirits and excitement. Biden's out of the race, now you have someone who is generationally closer, ideologically closer to them. And so there are a lot of folks who I think are really rooting for her. And I