Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a formal press conference or interview for 25 days since becoming president until Thursday. Potential Democratic presidential nominee,
Though she has been busy campaigning, speaking at events, and making informal remarks to reporters at various points since taking President Biden’s place last month, she has not held a formal press conference or in-depth interview in the three weeks since.
During this time he has had brief “gaggles” as well as off-the-record sessions with traveling reporters, but he has not yet had any formal interactions with the press. Even TIME turned it downwho published an impassioned essay about “Her Moment” for a cover story this week, and running mate Tim Walz rejected a formal interview request from The New York Times about his response to the George Floyd riots in Minnesota.
Left-leaning Washington Post editorial board challenged “At least he answered questions,” Harris said of her opponent, who avoided the media on Sunday. The Post said he should account for his many policy changes, including on fracking, border security and private health insurance.
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Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a single press conference in the three weeks since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
CNN’s John Berman spoke to Harris spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod about the issue on Tuesday, and said the candidate clearly has time to interview if Harris is interested. That same day, Senator Eric SchmidtThe Rep.-Mo. told Berman that Harris can’t face tough questions because her record has been “unconvincing.”
Liberal CNN anchor Jim Acosta reprimanded Speaking to the campaign about the issue on Wednesday, communications director Michael Tyler was asked, “Will you get people killed doing this?” Tyler laughed, repeating Harris’ vague pledge to do an interview by the end of the month.
“We will be committed to connecting directly with the voters who are really going to decide this election,” Tyler said. “And that will be accomplished with rallies, sit-down interviews, press conferences, and all the digital assets we have available to us.”
During a press conference in Detroit last week, the Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance urged reporters He asked Harris to “show a little self-awareness” and spoke to her, encouraging her to “do the job of a presidential candidate.”
Vance appeared on three Sunday shows on August 11 and asked pointed questions from CNN, CBS, and ABC, while Harris and Walz sent representatives.
Trump also raised the issue of his lack of access to the media during his lengthy press conference at Mar-a-Lago last week.
“She doesn’t know how to conduct a press conference; she is not even intelligent enough to conduct a press conference,” he said.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance (Getty Images)
For all the talk among progressives about the importance of media in the Trump era, some among Harris’s supporters are critical of her not speaking to reporters.
“Who cares about that?” Paul Begala, a CNN commentator and former aide to Bill Clinton, said of the issue on Wednesday.
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Former Obama Administration Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul wrote on X Harris’s “overriding objective” was to win.
“If press conferences help him win, he should do them. If not, he shouldn’t. It’s as simple as that. He has no ‘moral obligation’ to speak to the press. People, keep your mouths shut,” he wrote.
However, five years earlier he wrote, “Those who believe in truth and transparency should not fear the press.”
NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham expects Harris to follow President Biden’s 2020 strategy, when he was accused of hiding in his basement during the Covid pandemic.
“Kamala Harris should certainly hold a press conference. That’s to be expected when she names her vice presidential running mate. But we can’t expect her to give up Biden’s habit of consistently avoiding press conferences,” Graham said. Fox News Digital.
He added, “Since the 2020 campaign, we have witnessed the bizarre spectacle of Donald Trump granting extensive access to networks that suggest he is a fascist and attack him daily, while Biden and Harris will not grant interviews to media outlets that rave about them and their ‘historic accomplishments.’” “Either they think the press can never be servile enough or they are demonstrating a complete lack of confidence in their attempts to put complete sentences together.”
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Critics have noted that Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a formal press conference since President Biden’s re-election campaign ended. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
The Harris campaign told Fox News Digital last week that it was developing a strategy to best reach voters.
“With less than 90 days until the election, the vice president’s top priority is to secure the support of the voters who will decide this election,” the spokesperson said. “In a limited time period and fragmented media environment, this requires us to strategically, creatively and quickly get our message to the voters who are most influential — through paid media, grassroots organizing, an aggressive campaign schedule and, of course, interviews that reach our target voters. This is a far cry from Trump’s losing, ineffective strategy of posting angry rants, harassing reporters and insulting the very voters he will need to win.”
“If Donald Trump is so concerned about the success of Vice President Harris’ campaign, you know, he could come out to campaign. We’re very happy to see him highlight the agenda that lost him the election: repealing the ACA, killing the bipartisan border bill, and supporting a national abortion ban.”
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Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
