A political town hall event with Vice President Kamala Harris and former Rep. Liz Cheney featured “predetermined questions,” the moderator admitted, as a voter in the audience asked if she could ask a question.
Former California First Lady Maria Shriver kicked off the town hall in Birmingham, Michigan by welcoming voters to the event and noting the historic nature of both Cheney and Harris talking politics.
“Can we ask a question?” asked a woman in the audience.
“That’s not the case, unfortunately we have some predetermined questions,” Shriver replied. “And hopefully I can ask some questions that might be on your mind, I hope.”
Typically, presidential campaigns offer voters at town hall meetings the opportunity to ask unscripted questions, lending a level of authenticity to the proceedings and emphasizing a presidential candidate’s personal touch.
Moderator Maria Shriver speaks during a town hall with Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris at the Royal Oak Theater in Royal Oak, Michigan
Shriver said she agreed to moderate the event as a “concerned citizen” but also as a “journalist.”
“I want this to look a bit like a kitchen table, like you think we’re sitting at the kitchen table and talking about all kinds of things,” she said.
Shriver is a member of the Kennedy family and was an NBC journalist who was married to former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger before the couple divorced.
Cheney joked that it felt like a Kennedy family dining table, given the number of people in the room.
“It’s raw, it’s hot, but it’s fun, that’s how it’s going to be,” Shriver laughed.
But the conversation was hardly a “jamming” or a “raucus,” as Harris repeated many of her scripted lines about her love for country, and Cheney revisited her frequent attacks on former President Donald Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol Hill had allowed to take place.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris gestures at the conclusion of a town hall at the Royal Oak Theater in Royal Oak, Michigan, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as moderator Maria Shriver (left) and former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney listen during a town hall
Shriver described Cheney as an “incredibly courageous public servant” and praised her for participating in the bipartisan event for Harris.
“I grew up in a political family and people from both parties got along really well,” she said. “Now you see it in real life, because you haven’t seen it in decades.”
Harris answered three questions from the audience, who read the questions directly from their phones or notes.
One woman led her question directly from her phone, even wishing Harris a happy birthday before asking a question about gun violence. Another woman read a question on her phone about Harris’ message to Michigan’s “traditionally conservative” Chaldean community.
Shriver also answered a question from a Republican man who asked about how Harris planned to continue the war in Ukraine to make the world and the country safer.