Vice President Kamala Harris has refused to give voters specifics about her policy positions for five weeks, holding no press conferences and no major interviews since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris spoke on Thursday at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), officially accepting the nomination, and has been busy on the campaign trail, but he has failed to face important questions since replacing President Biden on the ticket last month.
Now that the party’s national convention has wrapped, speculation about when Harris will end the media blackout may increase as Americans want to know where he stands on various hot-button issues. Policy changes on fracking, border security and private health insurance are among the issues he has been urged to explain in recent weeks.
During one of his rare and brief press gaggles, Harris insisted on August 9 that he wanted to “get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.” But now, it’s just over a week until the calendar flips to September and Harris has yet to announce any interviews.
SUPPORTERS OF KAMALA HARRIS are unconvinced when asked about the VP’s policy achievements
Vice President Kamala Harris has gone more than four weeks without holding a press conference since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. (Reuters/Kevin Wurm)
Harris laughed and said, “I’m working on it,” Friday night when Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked if he was ready for a Fox News interview after his scripted DNC speech.
Among the other questions she got Thursday was “how are you feeling tonight?” after her convention acceptance speech. “I feel good, now it’s tomorrow,” Harris said with a laugh.
Another NBC reporter asked how he felt about being on stage.
“It feels good,” Harris said. “You know, we still have 75 days… That’s good, now we have to move on.”
“You won’t see a press conference from him for the next 75 days until Election Day,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha predicted Friday.
Meanwhile, his opponent, former President Trump, called to Fox News moments after Harris’ DNC speech for an interview; recently sat down with podcaster Theo Von; conducted a two-hour conversation at X with supporters of Elon Musk; and held a pair of press conferences where he answered questions on a variety of topics.
Harris has famously struggled when faced with tough questions in the past, often seen laughing uncomfortably or giving jumbled and confusing answers.
In 2021, Harris struggled to explain his strategy for securing the border and joked that he hadn’t been to Europe yet, when NBC News anchor Lester Holt asked why he hadn’t visited the southern border.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. (Getty Images)
In 2023, The New York Times reported that he “went into a bunker for about a year, avoiding many interviews for what aides said was fear of making a mistake and disappointing Mr. Biden” after his “disastrous” tenure. with Holt.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board on Friday wrote that her DNC speech lacked substance.
“Harris introduced himself to the American public on Thursday, and his presentation was like the Democratic convention this week: well-delivered, confident and optimistic, and mostly devoid of policy substance. 12 weeks will determine whether he is the 47th President of the United States,” wrote the council WSJ editorial.
The WSJ noted a variety of “falsehoods,” which he unleashed in his written speech, including Trump’s misleading attacks on abortion rights, Medicare and Social Security.
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Critics note that Vice President Kamala Harris has not held an official press conference since President Biden ended his re-election campaign. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“Harris tried to lay out a vision for his Presidency, but mostly empty platitudes. He will provide ‘opportunities,’ although he does not say how. He will solve the housing crisis, without saying how or explaining what is there. And he will reduce the price, without repeating a new proposal to impose price controls,” wrote the WSJ editorial board.
Harris will likely be asked how much he wants to be tied to Biden’s record in a serious interview.
Other topics to be discussed include several foreign policy issues, such as Israel and Ukraine.
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GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, who has urged reporters to “show a little bit of self-awareness” and pushed Harris to “do the job of a presidential candidate” by speaking for them, has spoken with . CNN twice, Fox News, CBS, ABC and other outlets in the past few weeks.
“They wouldn’t let Kamala do a five-minute interview with Elmo,” pundit David Marcus recently snarked on X .
But some members of the media think they are just using a good strategy.
CNN’s Erin Burnett pointed out during the DNC coverage that Harris had not done the interview, thinking aloud that he should “just ignore all the calls to talk and keep doing what he’s doing.”
Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond when asked if he still planned to sit down with reporters in August.
The campaign told Fox News Digital earlier this month that it was working on a strategy to reach the best possible voters.
“With less than 90 days left, the Vice President’s top priority is to get the support of the voters who will decide this election,” the spokesperson said. “In the limited time and fragmented media environment, which requires us to be strategic, creative, and fast to send messages to these voters in the most effective way – through paid media, in the organizing space, aggressive campaign schedule. , and of course interviews that reach our target voters It is far from defeating Trump, the ineffective strategy of anger-posting, accosting journalists, and insulting the voters that will be necessary to win.
“If Donald Trump is so concerned about the success of VP Harris’ blitz campaign, he could, you know, get out on the campaign trail. We’d rather have him shine a spotlight on his losing election agenda: the ACA, kill the bipartisan border bill, and support a national abortion ban .
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Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
