Kamala Harris town hall host Maria Shriver says crowd can’t ask questions because they’re ‘pre-determined’

A town hall event with Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday featured a shocking revelation after one voter simply wondered whether she could ask a question.

Former California First Lady Maria Shriver admitted while hosting the event with former Rep. Liz Cheney in Royal Oak, Michigan that she would only include ‘predetermined questions.’

‘Are we going to be able to ask a question?’ asked a woman in the audience.

‘You’re not, unfortunately we have some predetermined questions,’ Shriver replied. ‘And hopefully I’ll be able to ask some of the questions that might be in your head, I hope so.’

Typically, presidential campaigns allow voters at townhall meetings to ask unscripted questions, which lends a level of authenticity to the proceedings and highlights a presidential candidate’s personal touch.

Shriver said she had agreed to moderate the event as a ‘concerned citizen’ but also a ‘journalist.’

‘I want this to be like a kitchen table, like just think that we’re sitting around at the kitchen table and we’re jamming about all kinds of stuff,’ she said.

Shriver is a member of the Kennedy family and was an NBC journalist who was married to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before the couple divorced. 

Cheney joked that it felt like a Kennedy family dinner table, noting the number of people in the room.

‘It’s raucous, it’s hot but it’s fun, that’s what it’s going to be like,’ Shriver laughed.  

But the conversation was hardly ‘jamming’ or ‘raucus’ as Harris repeated many of her scripted lines about her love of country and Cheney revisited her frequent attacks against former President Donald Trump for allowing the riots to occur on January 6 on Capitol Hill.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris gestures at the conclusion of a town hall at the Royal Oak Theatre in Royal Oak, Mich., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024.

The revelation comes as the vice president has refused to sit for an interview with several legacy media outlets since taking over Joe Biden’s campaign.  

She has also faced a slew of criticism for her sparse media strategy and appearing on friendly outlets such as the podcast Call Her Daddy. 

Recently the owner of Time magazine aired his grievances after claiming his publication has reached out several times for an interview with the presidential nominee.

‘Despite multiple requests, TIME has not been granted an interview with Kamala Harris—unlike every other Presidential candidate,’ owner Marc Benioff posted on X Sunday. 

The denouncement of Harris’ refusal to interview with the magazine comes as CBS News faces intense backlash for favorably editing its 60 Minutes interview with the candidate. 

Democratic presidential nominee 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 ‘incredible courageous public servant’ and praised her for participating in the bipartisan event for Harris.

‘I grew up in a political family and people of both parties used to get along really well,’ she said. ‘Now you’re getting to see it in real life because you haven’t seen it in decades.’ 

Harris took three questions from the audience, who read questions straight from their phones or notes. 

One woman lead her question directly from her phone and even wished Harris Happy Birthday before she asked a question about gun violence. Another woman read from her phone a question about Harris’ message to ‘traditionally conservative’ her Chaldean community in Michigan.

Shriver also took a question from a Republican man who asked a question about how Harris planned to continue fighting the war in Ukraine to make the world and the country more secure.