Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a formal press conference for 15 days since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee following President Biden’s endorsement.
While she has been active on the campaign trail and addressed reporters informally, critics are questioning her absence from formal media engagements, especially after she missed the National Association of Black Journalists convention.
Observers noted that her campaign may be following Biden’s 2020 strategy of avoiding tough questions, as her performance in unscripted settings has raised concerns.
“When is Kamala Harris going to hold a press conference?” National Review senior writer Noah Rothman wrote.
“The most revealing exposure to which a candidate can submit is a prolonged press conference — and that’s precisely what Harris needs to do. Indeed, we know that’s what she needs to do because it was only a few weeks ago that Democratic political professionals and their allies insisted that was what Biden had to do,” he added.
“Kamala Harris should absolutely hold a press conference. One would expect it when she names her vice-presidential pick. But we cannot expect her to break from Biden’s serial avoidance of press conferences,” NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham said.
“Since the 2020 campaign, we have witnessed the bizarre spectacle of Donald Trump granting wide access to networks that suggest he’s a fascist and hammer him daily, while Biden and Harris won’t grant interviews to media outlets that gurgle all over them and their ‘historic accomplishments,’” he added. “Either they think the press can never be servile enough or they are projecting a complete lack of confidence in their efforts to put complete sentences together.”
Analysts argue that holding a press conference could help her engage with moderates and undecided voters, but there appears to be little pressure for her to do so given the support from the Democratic Party.
The Harris campaign is “well aware that Biden dodged the media throughout his 2020 campaign and still got elected,” DePauw University media studies professor Jeffrey McCall said.
“The Harris camp is also well aware that their candidate doesn’t do well in unscripted settings, not to mention that a presser or legitimate sit-down interview would necessarily require her to defend some of her positions, previous statements and record. Thus, a rerun of the Biden basement campaign sounds pretty good, as long as you throw in a couple of rallies with Megan Thee Stallion,” McCall added.
“The supporters rallying around her don’t expect her to be accountable and have little interest in her policy positions and so on. That she’s not Biden, or Trump, is sufficient for those supporters,” McCall said.
“From a rhetorical strategy standpoint, however, it would behoove Harris to actually do a presser and do real journalistic interviews,” he added. “At some point, it would seem, she’ll have to attract moderates or undecided voters who want to see her take questions.”
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for August 19 in Chicago.
