The interview with CNN's Dana Bash will give Harris a chance to quell criticism that she has eschewed uncontrolled environments, while also giving her a fresh platform to define her campaign and test her political mettle ahead of an upcoming debate with former President Donald Trump set for September 10.
But it also carries risk as her team tries to build on momentum from the ticket shakeup following Joe Biden's exit and last week's Democratic National Convention.
Joint interviews during an election year are a fixture in politics; Biden and Harris, Trump and Mike Pence, Barack Obama and Biden — all did them at a similar point in the race. The difference is those other candidates had all done solo interviews, too. Harris hasn't yet done an in-depth interview since she became her party's standard bearer five weeks ago, though she did sit for several while she was still Biden's running mate.
The CNN interview takes place during her two-day bus tour through southeast Georgia campaigning for the critical battleground state, a trip that culminates with a rally in Savannah. Harris campaign officials believe that in order to win the state over Trump in November, they must make inroads in GOP strongholds across the state.
Harris, during her time as vice president, has done on-camera and print interviews with many outlets, at a much more frequent pace than the president — except for Biden's late-stage media blitz following his disastrous debate performance that led to him stepping out of the race.
Harris' lack of media access over the past month has become one of Republicans' key attack lines. The Trump campaign has kept a tally of the days she has gone by as a candidate without giving an interview. On Wednesday, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump's former press secretary, suggested Harris needed a "babysitter" and that's why Walz would be there.
"They know Kamala Harris can't get through an interview all by herself. There is not a lot of confidence in somebody to become the leader of the free world and ask people to make her president of the United States when she can't even sit down (for) an interview," she said on "Fox & Friends."
Trump, meanwhile, has largely steered toward conservative media outlets when granting interviews, though he has held more open press conferences in recent weeks as he sought to reclaim the spotlight that Harris' elevation had claimed.
After the CNN interview, Walz will peel off and Harris will continue the bus tour alone, heading to a rally before going back to Washington.
Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler said bus tours offer an "opportunity to get to places we don't usually go (and) make sure we're competing in all communities.
