The former vice president was slammed for being ‘robotic’ and ‘guarded’ during eighth appearance on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’

Former Vice President Kamala Harris was criticized on a Friday CNN panel for delivering vague answers during her interview with host Stephen Colbert the night before.

During the “Late Show” interview, Harris spoke about her choice not to run for the governorship of California, making broad generalizations about how, “Just for now, I don‘t want to go back in the system. I think it‘s broken.”

On CNN, NOTUS White House Correspondent Jasmine Wright, who covered the Harris campaign, objected to Harris using “amorphous phrasing” like “the system,” and doubted whether Americans could grasp what she was talking about.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has ruled out running for the governorship of California, but both her political future and rhetoric appear vague. (Mandel Ngan)

“I think what people want are solutions, and she has not said a single one,” Wright said. “And consistently, people want her to be descriptive about what she says is wrong. And I don‘t think that that interview, she was able to do that. And it‘s a shame because she‘s had six months to figure it out.”

“She hasn‘t said anything really for six months,” panel host Manu Raju agreed.

CNN senior reporter Aaron Blake commented on how there are multiple other prominent Democrats, like former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, talking about how America’s institutions are under attack, or how American democracy is in particularly dark times, but there is one key flaw.

“But we don‘t see, like, a very consistent message from Democrats on this,” Blake said. “Maybe that‘s because they don‘t have somebody with kind of the heft and the constant presence in our daily lives to drive that message. But it seems like something where they pop up every once in a while and say, ‘Hey, this situation is pretty bad.’ And then they kind of fade away and it just doesn‘t seem like Democrats have been able to drive that message very well.”

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest former Vice President Kamala Harris during Thursday’s July 31, 2025 show (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)

“You know, she was so guarded last night. I mean, I was a bit surprised because she had been gone. She‘s now not running for office, at least at the moment. And she was not, perhaps, as forthcoming about some of the issues with the campaign than maybe what I personally expected,” Raju said, before playing a clip of Mark Cuban saying Harris is far more charismatic behind closed doors.

AP White House reporter Michelle Price argued that Thursday night’s interview stood out because “she was especially robotic, but that is a longstanding problem for her. She even looked physically uncomfortable, like her shoulders seemed up into her neck most of that interview, which was just striking because, you know, she has nothing to lose right now. She could be energetic or much more candid than she was.”

Price added further that the interview “seemed more like a lament for where things went last year, where the party is now. There was no message of leadership or moving forward, or even clarity on what, again, like Jasmine said, what is the system? Is she talking about the California gubernatorial system, the election system?”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has been consistently criticized for coming across as inauthentic or making comical gaffes during her public appearances. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Wright argued that Harris is falling uniquely short of her responsibility to candidly explain what went wrong with the election.

“I think that after how damaging 2024 was, not just for her personally, but for the Democratic Party, I think that what is required of her is to really be honest about what went wrong in her campaign, what went wrong with the party, and what she wants to do,” she said. “And yes, maybe that happens on that listening tour that she‘s going to go on in December. But I think people want those answers from her now. And she had the time to create them.”

Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.

Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].