Avoiding questions from the media appears to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s strategy after accepting the nomination 12 days ago, Democrats acknowledged Friday.
Vice President Kamala Harris’s lack of media accessibility suggests she is concerned about answering questions about her radical record. It also indicates she might run a campaign similar to President Joe Biden, who seldomly held solo press conferences and rarely sat for live interviews.
“The vice president is showing all of us that you don’t need to do high-profile interviews or press conferences in order to get attention from the media or from voters,” Democrat strategist Christy Setzer told the Hill. “I’d say she has a robust communications strategy.”
While delivering a brief statement on Thursday, Harris blatantly failed to answer questions from reporters and immediately bolted into her campaign plane:
HIDING HARRIS: Kamala makes a quick statement and then avoids questions from the press, which is now trying to polish her not-so-great track record.
— 🇺🇸 Larry 🇺🇸 (@LarryDJonesJr) August 1, 2024
It's like a rerun of Biden's 2020 strategy of campaigning from his basement.
Looks like the Dem candidates think they've got… pic.twitter.com/EtidxbSN2O
Harris, known for word salads, already committed two gaffes since becoming the party’s de facto nominee. She accidentally called herself “president” on Thursday during former Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s eulogy and also on Thursday, delivered a word salad during an unscripted comment about a hostage deal with Russia.
“This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy,” she rambled.
Perhaps the gaffes are why Democrats do not see Harris’s lack of media accessibility as an urgent issue. “They have not had a bad day since her launch,” one Democrat strategist told the Hill. “There is no reason to sit for a big interview in the middle of an energizing veepstakes, especially when Trump is out walking in a minefield, making damaging comments.”
Harris cannot avoid questions forever. Republicans are quickly defining her as a radical Democrat who flip-flops on policies, a second Democrat strategist said. “They’ve got to get her out there soon because they can’t let this be part of the narrative,” the person said. “I know we’re riding high at the moment but that’s going to end soon and then what?”
Despite the lack of media access, Harris appears to be back-peddling on many policies she previously championed, raising concerns about if voters can trust the de facto Democrat nominee. Neither Harris nor campaign aides have yet to fully embrace the changed policy positions by delivering on-the-record, public statements.Harris no longer supports “a federal job guarantee,” an anonymous Harris campaign spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. The New York Times reported on Monday, citing anonymous campaign officials, that Harris also now (1) supports fracking, (2) wants to increase funding for the border, (3) does not want to require people to sell their assault weapons back to the government, and (4) no longer supports “a single-payer health insurance program.”
More is here on Harris’s radical record.
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White HouseWendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
