The Harris campaign's 'hide Kamala' strategy may be working from a polling perspective - but it's gone on so long that even CNN is getting annoyed.
"Would it kill you guys to have a press conference?" asked the network's Jim Acosta (of 'shouting at Trump' fame) during an interview with Harris communications director Michael Tyler.
"I’m sure this is not going to be the first time you’ve heard this question, but the Trump campaign is also going after the vice president for not doing enough interviews, for not holding a press conference. Would it kill you guys to have a press conference? Why hasn't she had a press conference?"
To which Tyler laughed sheepishly and pivoted to robotic talking points about Harris and running mate Tim Walz being "busy" traveling around the country to multiple (teleprompter) campaign rallies.
"Michael, you know a campaign really isn't really a press conference," Acosta pushed back. "Why hasn't she had a press conference? She's the vice president, she can handle the questions, why not do it?"
Tyler said Harris will sit down for a one-on-one interview before the end of the month, which Acosta said was "not a lot," adding "can you commit to a press conference by the end of the month?"
Tyler once again deflected - saying "We will commit to directly engage with the voters who are actually going to decide this election, and that is going to be complete with rallies, with sit-down interviews, with press conferences, with all the digital assets that we have at our disposal."
Watch:
From Trump War Room @TrumpWarRoom:
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 14, 2024
CNN: "Would it kill you guys to have a press conference?"
HARRIS SPOX: Kamala holds rallies so she can read from her teleprompter!
CNN: "A campaign rally is not a press conference."
HARRIS SPOX: "We're gonna be having a sit-down interview… pic.twitter.com/7yvbXG0Ubp
CNN's John Berman also pressed a Harris campaign spox over the VP's lack of media presence.
"The reason I was asking you about today is because it seems like she has time if she wanted to do an interview with a member of the media or do a news conference, correct? There does appear to be that time, if she wanted," said Berman - to which Harris campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod repeated Tyler's talking point that Harris and Walz are bringing their message directly to voters.
"She hit a number of battleground states. I think we had 15,000 people in Detroit last week, 12 to 13,000 in Nevada. She’s been taking her message to the voters and drawing large crowds. So she’s actually having those direct conversations," said Elrod - before Berman cut her off.
"But not today — all I’m saying is not today. She could do an interview today, I would think, you know, because she’s not out there today," said the CNN host.
JUST IN: CNN asks Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Adrienne Elrod (@adrienneelrod) why Harris can't do an interview today since she has no campaign event and nothing to do. She says Harris has a campaign event on Friday. CNN says they are asking about today not Friday. WATCH pic.twitter.com/fB8nLKqcEH
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) August 13, 2024
Meanwhile, Trump did a lengthy press conference at Mar-a-Lago last week and had a 2 hour conversation with Elon Musk - something Harris clearly couldn't pull off because her biggest liability, like Biden, is her brain.