WATCH: Kamala Harris’ Town Hall Performance Ripped To Shreds By CNN’s Dana Bash

Dana Bash, the CNN anchor who has seen firsthand how Vice President Kamala Harris wilts under tough questioning, told viewers Wednesday night that Harris’s performance in a televised town hall was less than stellar according to those who know her best.

The town hall, hosted by CNN, was quickly followed by a panel that included Bash, John King, Kaitlan Collins, Jake Tapper, and Abby Phillip to assess whether Harris “closed the deal” with undecided voters. Bash was exceptionally frank in laying out how campaign advisors believe she fell short. “I’ll just tell you what I’m hearing from people I’ve been talking to, and that is that if her goal was to close the deal, they’re not sure she did that,” Bash said Wednesday night. “And, you know, some people are asking ‘Is she being held to a different standard?’ Maybe, but that’s maybe the world that she’s living in.”

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Harris’s struggle to define herself in the eyes of voters, especially given the transparent shifts in policy from her time in the U.S. Senate, was not made any easier on stage, Bash continued. “On the question of who she is, people are understanding that a little bit more, but what she will do — the question about her legislative priorities, name one — there wasn’t one,” she said, referencing a botched open-ended question offered to Harris by moderator Anderson Cooper. “Some more of her personality and her character, sort of your weaknesses or what mistakes did you make… not necessary the answers there.”

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The event in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, was part of the Harris campaign’s new strategy to engage media on a national level, roughly two months after aides cloistered the vice president away for nearly 30 straight days without speaking to a member of the press. When she finally emerged for a major interview, it was with Bash, who took criticism for agreeing to allow running mate Tim Walz to sit with Harris. Now, as poll after poll confirms that any honeymoon period Harris may have enjoyed has completely evaporated, she is racing to make up ground against an opponent who has nowhere to go but up in the minds of the electorate.

Harris’s shaky performance Wednesday night included stumbles when asked if she holds any regrets from her time in the White House or if she could identify a personal weakness or top priority if elected. The deflections added up, a stark confirmation of what aides have feared for months: turning Harris loose to the media results in endless examples of her ability to challenge President Joe Biden for the most gaffes in an election. Prior to her CNN town hall, Harris sat opposite Fox News’ Bret Baier for a contentious interview which got little across apart from heated crosstalk, and a taped interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” came under fire after critics accused the outlet of deceptively editing her answers on foreign affairs topics.

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