2020 candidate Kamala Harris responds to President Trump calling her “nasty”: “His primary interest has been to obstruct justice. My primary interest is to pursue justice. You can call that whatever name you want, but I think that's what the American people want in a leader.” pic.twitter.com/KFuUzZWVA9
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 2, 2019
"She nailed every aspect: a strong woman, a professional woman, and tough as bleep. If you want to measure the candidates, you have to watch them in the ring with the most similar to Trump kind of politician. To see her take him on was as good a trial run as Dems are gonna get." pic.twitter.com/Qj5PYImBZ3
— Ian Sams (@IanSams) May 2, 2019
Ms. Harris if you're nasty https://t.co/UJWOHAKeWH
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) May 3, 2019
Jen Rubin, in the Washington Post:
… Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) asked clipped, insightful and fact-based questions. She left Barr stammering and got him to concede that he had not looked at the underlying evidence before giving his own prosecutorial opinion on obstruction of justice. Even worse, he fumbled around when asked if the president or anyone else at the White House had asked or suggested he investigate someone…
It was the highlight of the hearing for Democrats, and her performance is not likely to be lost on Democratic primary voters. To the extent that they are looking for someone to take down President Trump, the veteran prosecutor offers Democrats someone entirely capable of slicing and dicing a Republican who refuses to acknowledge easily established facts.
One can argue that prosecutorial skills are not generally what we look for in presidential candidates. However, in the case of Trump, Democrats, frustrated with years of dissembling and incoherent assertions, would dearly love to see someone reduce him to a stuttering, defensive figure — just like Barr.
After the hearing, Harris told reporters, “This attorney general lacks all credibility and has, I think, compromised the American public’s ability to believe that he is a purveyor of justice.” Should he resign? Yes, she said simply, before departing. More Democrats and outside legal experts are echoing her opinion, in part because she so effectively revealed Barr to be acting as a ham-handed defense attorney rather than the attorney general…