The Pulse, Part 21 — Twins Debate Kamala’s Lack of Charisma

Question: Do you agree that Kamala Harris is not interesting and charismatic enough to be considered a leader? Twin Brothers Ricardo and Renaldo McKenzie debate whether Kamala was uncharismatic and not interesting during the last presidential election and throughout her time as VP and on Rachel Maddow Show last night 9.22.2025. It was former Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris first Live TV interview since loosing which also happen to mark the eve of the release of her new book. So the timing was no coincidence.

Nevertheless the show is intersting as the twins get heated over the topic. Ricardo on Phone and Renaldo in studios.

The Pulse is a production of The Neoliberal Corporation on The Neoliberal Round Podcast.

Subscribe: https://anchor.fm/theneoliberal on any stream.

Visit us at https://theneoliberal.com and https://renaldocmckenzie.com

🎙️ Podcast Script

The Pulse, Part 21 — Twins Debate Kamala’s Lack of Charisma

INTRO (Host):
Welcome back to The Pulse. Today, the Twins spar over a sticky question: does charisma matter more than competence — and what does that mean for Kamala Harris? Buckle up.

BEAT 1 — Opening & Set-up
The Twins set the scene, warming the audience up with humor and framing the debate around “charisma” as not just style, but a political currency that either builds bridges or burns them.

BEAT 2 — Charisma vs. Competence
They wrestle with whether voters are persuaded by gravitas, policy chops, or just good vibes. One insists that competence should win out; the other argues that without charisma, the competence never gets heard.

BEAT 3 — Kamala Harris’s Record & Narrative
The talk shifts to Harris’s background: prosecutor, Senator, now VP. They ask — why hasn’t that résumé translated into presence on the national stage?

BEAT 4 — Comparisons & 2024/2025 Landscape
The Twins draw comparisons with Biden, Trump, and others. Polls, debates, swing voters — does Harris have the juice to cut through the noise?

BEAT 5 — Media Framing & Gender/Race
They critique the press: how much of this “charisma gap” is her, and how much is media bias against a Black woman in power?

BEAT 6 — Policy Substance
They highlight the disconnect: voters hear about vibes, not Harris’s policy work on the economy, student loans, and foreign affairs.

BEAT 7 — Listener Q&A / Closing
Questions roll in — is “likability” just a code word? Or does charisma, like oxygen, simply vanish when absent?

OUTRO (Host):
That’s today’s pulse check. If you learned something, send this to a friend, rate the show, and let us know what we missed. Until next time — keep your mind sharp and your heart open.

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
This is the neo liberal around podcast.
Wait, Ricardo, not no. We're trying to get, we're

(00:26):
trying to get Ricardo on the phone.
He is one of the producers and the the chief commentators, the
senior commentators on the pulse.
He was at, we were on the phone earlier.
Ricardo, are you there? I am here earlier.
You, you were speaking earlier about Kamala Harris.
Kamala Harris was was on the airlast night on MSNBC talking with

(00:48):
Rachel Maddow and you and you asked me earlier if I had seen
or heard her yesterday. And I'm saying, yes, I did.
But I didn't particularly like her, OK?
I didn't particularly. I don't find it.
I didn't find it interesting. She was not intriguing.
I was listening to her yesterdayand she didn't move me.

(01:08):
It was as if she wasn't even there, you know, And then, you
know, while sitting in the on the couch, I said, you know
what? No, I know why she lost.
No, I know why she lost. She's not interesting.
She's not more interesting. She's not no interest.
She's not that interesting. And and Donald Trump seems to is
more interesting than her as OK,she's not interested to listen

(01:32):
to Obama was interesting. OK, to listen to Bill Clinton
was interesting. Yes, George Bush was
interesting, OK, He was as much as he.
Maybe you're coming from me froman unconscious bias.
OK, let me. OK.
What was interesting about the interview last night and no.

(01:55):
Woman and. You are a man.
OK, OK, Ricardo, what was interesting about what was
interesting about Kamala Harris's interview last night?
It. Was a substance and all about
the substance. And OK, fine.
What was substantive? About 2025 seconds say this is
not this is beyond Donald Trump and when he's gone, it's going
to continue going to flourish. So you're you're don't fool

(02:17):
yourself. You think this is just
yesterday. This is decades in the meeting,
OK, And things are falling into place.
And when he's gone, it's going to continue.
What are we doing about it? She also talked about no, let's
fight for A cause of Democrats. We should fight push for health
care, Obama extension push because Americans need to be
healthy no matter what you do. What Democrats do, we band

(02:38):
together, we coalesce around health care because we're not
we, you know what, Republicans or you guys are the ones
shutting down. You guys are forcing.
A shutdown. Pamela said that in her book,
she predicted she did predict this OK, but she didn't predict
the the this authoritarian style, dictatorial style, but

(03:01):
she didn't predict the this capitulation, the capitulation
that she said she did not predict the capitulation.
Hello. I'm.
Listening and and and that point, I think and if anything,
if she it shows that it goes to show her an analysis.

(03:23):
How extensive because I saw the capitulation and I saw and we
all know the authoritarian styleof Donald Trump, OK, we know
Trump, you know, we, we are. And Eve OK, fine.
If she predicted this, OK. If she predicted this, what did
she do about it? Why are you putting it on one?

(03:43):
Woman, she was running for president, what do you mean?
And was the leader of the party Ricardo and was OK and was vice
president. What was she doing about it?
Please please first of. All she was pushed to the
forefront when Brad Biden had originally said he's only going
to run one term second term camehe all of a sudden he's greeting
for power. He's running again, knowing that

(04:05):
he was not in any shape or form This is his fault if he's going
to bring someone because Hattie stand by.
I always tell them about these old.
Geriatrics stand but yes, but she's what did she do?
She did the best that she could.Do no when Ricardo she didn't
say anything about it. And second of all, she was
protecting her position. OK, because if he had come out

(04:26):
earlier, if he had come out earlier, maybe if he had come
out Ricardo if he had stepped down.
Wait, hold on. I need.
To speak please. She's a human being and everyone
protects their position. What is supposed to happen was
if you really cared about the country.
She was in hiding Ricardo the entire time.
Please I. Need to finish what he should
have done is fall back, let her have the campaign with the

(04:51):
people and the American people decide the Democrats at the
primary. He didn't do that.
He waited until it was too late when everybody knew that he was.
He's about to croak and and thisis what happened.
And somebody we had to quickly stop, come up with something to
make sure this makes sense. And she did the best she could.
What she had, you know, it was alosing way of doing so.
All right, and maybe what she could have done this stage is

(05:13):
probably children and a better vice president because her vice
president candidate was I'm sorry, I really hate to say this
was a goofball. And when I saw that that VP
versus Vance candidate come out looking all amazing at suave and
and young people are going to I mean, come on, I may look at
this guy who couldn't even answer your question to make any
sense whatsoever. I mean, of course big pudding,

(05:38):
which would have shake it up even even if people don't like
that shake it up, you only shakethings up just.
Throw him there, Ricardo. She is the IT goes to show who
she is as a person and her style.
She refuses to. I heard her saying it last
night. Maybe she should have.
Maybe she should have. She said she wanted Pete.

(06:00):
Put Pete to be the vice president, but she said that she
just was counting the cost. She just thought that, you know,
she being a woman and black at the time and all sort of Asian
and then having somebody who is gay on the ticket, it may be too
much for American to. I think that's the point she was
trying to make, saying that everybody.
Was saying that it was not just her so yes, she.

(06:21):
Was saying that, No, but Ricardo, we're talking about
her. She was saying that, OK, what
I'm saying is that, you know, she keep saying she, she
predicted this and predicted that and so on and so forth.
And she was in a place of power.But she was, it's as if she said
to us that she was not able to to be influential, influential
enough in the democratic base. And if you cannot influence your

(06:44):
base, how do you think you're going to be President?
Ronaldo she. Had a lot of stuff working
against her. When you have the power of
social media, OK, power that andthe algorithm of social media
and the power of billionaires and billionaires money which you
don't even know about. And the power of, of paying
$1,000,000 to get people to votefor your party.
And the power of big powers thatbe controlling all of the the

(07:07):
messaging in the story. And I mean, come on when you
have all of that working. Against Cardiff he should have
been pressing Joe Biden, pressing the Democratic
machinery, pressing using various infant strategies and
ways to get Joe Biden out earlier.
But at the same time, getting him earlier means probably she
would have gone up against otherpeople who wanted to vie for
that position. He had with his cancer stuff

(07:32):
which he held back and then communicate he was honest with
his help, okay. Well, he wasn't honest with a
lot of things we're learning now.
But but as I said to you then then again, the and the second
reason why I didn't really find what her interview interesting
yesterday was because a lot was going on.
A lot was on the table. Baltimore was pretty was playing

(07:54):
on Detroit. OK, these two predominantly
black cities are cities that's gone through a lot and took on
each other and it was a very historical game to me, socio
economic and so on and so forth.But I it was seeing Lamar,
seeing the Detroit, seeing Montgomery, how he played.
It was just an amazing game yesterday.

(08:15):
And I was more in fact, let me tell you, I had I had dual
screen last night. I had the game on the left and I
also had Camelot on the right. And can I tell you I, I
completely forgot you that you were speaking and I had I,
although she was on the screen, I did hear her for a few
minutes, I said. But then after a while, after

(08:36):
listening to her for a while, I didn't, I didn't find it
interesting. I just switched back and I
forgot to switch back. Over instead of saying she
wasn't interesting, you know? I said.
That just say that you weren't paying attention because also
you had your fantasy Football League and you were all over
biting your nails. I mean give.
Me up to fantasy football? Yeah, we play fantasy football.

(08:58):
Ricardo is the commissioner, just so you know, and I won the
yes, and I'm number one in the league now for this whatever,
but. I'm just talking about that.
You wouldn't go. I didn't watch Kevin Harris, but
I was like, I can watch it tomorrow, OK, and, and and see
what's going on and see what shesaid.
I like what she said really good.
That's what I do. And so I'm just looking at the

(09:18):
points she said. I'm making sense and a lot of
things that she had said during her campaign, we have to be
careful about this is happening.And so you know what she.
Also said all right, fine, OK, So what are we doing?
What is she doing about it now? What I watch after said saying
what will we do about what people are saying now that they
believe that Donald Trump administration he has a

(09:41):
dictatorial authoritarian kind of a style of government that is
anti or UN American. We, we just lost Ricardo.
We are this is the Neoliberal round podcast and of course the
and we and this is the pulse. This is the pulse and what's

(10:02):
pulsing. Camila was on MSNBC last night
and I wanted to get a quick response from one one of the
commentators here at the at the neoliberal Round, Ricardo
McKenzie, who is one of the the host of the pulse series that we
do here at the neoliberal round.We have several series here and
we, of course we are a news commentary, but we also provide
several other dynamic programming and shows and

(10:24):
interesting conversations that goes beyond the news, of course.
Coming up on the show, we're hoping to have Bria Jackson on
Friday, who is an actress who isjust in the UK.
Her show just premiere. She was in that show.
We were supposed to have her before.
She will be on the show coming up.
We're going to have her somewhere on studios on Friday
and then release it probably on Sunday.

(10:46):
We also hope to have I understand that is it there is a
gentleman that I understand thatwas the the founding A founding
member or a former president of Turning Points and I'm a common
board member at turning Turning Points America, the organization

(11:07):
that Charlie Kirk believe Charlie Kirk founded.
He is supposed to be. I'm trying to set up a
conversation with him if we can land he reached his PR reached
out to us. We're trying to see if we can
set it up. This is the new Liberal podcast.