Vice President Kamala Harris has gone 51 days as the presumptive, and now, official Democratic nominee for president without holding an official press conference.
Now, she faces the biggest test of her candidacy so far: a debate with former President Trump.
Under pressure to sit down for a substantive interview after weeks of stonewalling, Harris finally ended her interview drought last month when she was joined by running mate Tim Walz for a pre-taped piece with CNN’s Dana Bash last Thursday in Georgia that was a far cry from a traditional press conference.
“Anyone who wants to lead the free world should be able to handle questions from the press,” conservative influencer Tim Young told Fox News Digital. “If Kamala can’t handle real questions from the press, she absolutely can’t handle negotiations with foreign leaders.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris in her first sit-down interview with the media since rising to the top of the Democratic ticket. (CNN)
During the CNN interview, Harris defended some of her noted policy flip-flops on issues like fracking and immigration, saying her “values” hadn’t changed. She was also pressed on whether she had regrets about defending President Biden’s mental acuity after his debate, given he dropped out of the race less than a month later. She also said she wanted to “turn the page on the last decade of what I believe has been contrary to where the spirit of our country really lies.”
Bash pointed out Harris had been vice president for three-and-a-half of those years, but Harris countered she meant moving on from this “era,” seemingly referring to the political rise of Donald Trump that began in 2015.
Entrepreneur Shawn Meaike objected to Walz tagging along for the CNN interview.
“CEOs don’t go, ‘Hey, you know what? I’ll do an interview with you, but I’ve got to bring someone with me. I’m certainly not qualified to do this on my own,” Meaike told Fox News Digital.
“You want to be the leader of the free world… but you can’t do an interview by yourself? I think that’s insulting,” he continued. “As an American, we want answers and deserve answers.”
Harris also sat for two taped radio interviews last week, which aired Friday and Monday.
As to when she’ll actually do a formal press conference, that day may never come, at least while she’s still a candidate.
Conservative Radio Libre host Jorge Bonilla feels Harris should do a press conference but said it’s almost “irrelevant” because she continues to get a pass.
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“She is highly unlikely to do a press conference because the media have enabled and encouraged her ‘plexiglass basement’ strategy, wherein she preserves the illusion of being out there while remaining wholly inaccessible to the press and therefore unaccountable,” Bonilla told Fox News Digital.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz in CNN interview.
Meaike believes the approach is “disrespectful” to Americans.
“As a businessman, I couldn’t imagine if the company was just tumbling in the wrong direction. And I said, or any leader said, ‘Hey, guess what? I’m just not going to talk to anyone. I’m not going to take any questions,’” Meaike told said.
“I don’t think we see Harris in a press conference where there is anyone that’s going to ask her a question that isn’t a softball,” he added. “I think Harris will continue to avoid anything remotely confrontational.”
Trump has sought to highlight the contrast in media availability between the two, sitting for several lengthy interviews in recent weeks and also holding a pair of press conferences last month.
Harris received mixed reviews for her showing with Bash, where she took the majority of the questions but nevertheless had Walz there for support.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris talks as she visits SandFly Bar-B-Q in Savannah, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“My fear is, because Bash wasn’t like, say, CBS’s Steve Kroft or NPR’s Steve Inskeep salivating at the sight of Barack Obama, the liberal media will claim this and the upcoming ABC debate are sufficient interview time for the campaign,” Houck said.
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Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.