(LibertySociety.com) – Vice President Kamala Harris last Friday exceeded the threshold of delegates required to officially secure the Democrat nomination, 10 days after President Joe Biden withdrew and endorsed her as his replacement.
However, during that time, the presumptive nominee has not given a single interview or press conference despite the unprecedented nature of her presidential race.
The lack of interviews has not escaped the notice of Republicans and some in the media, who have suggested the Harris campaign was hiding the candidate from press scrutiny to avoid any embarrassment.
One Democrat strategist told The Hill that the Harris campaign would have to get Kamala in front of reporters soon if they don’t want the narrative to be that she is incapable of fielding tough questions.
However, Democrat strategist Christy Setzer suggested that Harris didn’t need to do press conferences or interviews to gain attention from the media or voters.
Setzer said the Harris campaign should focus its communications strategy on rallies, campaign events, ads, and press releases aimed at generating media buzz.
However, some Democrats told The Hill that eventually the initial excitement over her campaign will settle down and Harris will have to face reporters and answer questions directly.
The Vice President suggested over the weekend that if Republican nominee Donald Trump does not show up for the September 10 debate on ABC News that he and Biden agreed to, she would do a solo town hall during the same 90-minute time slot.
The former president announced last Friday that he agreed to participate in a Fox News debate on September 4, moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. The vice president, however, is refusing to accept the invitation, saying in a post on X that she would show up at the debate Trump and President Biden scheduled on ABC News.
Another Democrat strategist told The Hill that there was no reason for Harris to do an interview, suggesting that it was better to keep her under wraps while Donald Trump does interviews with adversarial outlets.
Republican strategist Matt Gorman told the Hill that Vice President Harris only does well when she “controls every variable” and can rely on “prepared lines.” He said when Harris is not completely in control, “it goes south for her.”
Gorman added that it was likely that the Harris campaign would try to limit her interactions with reporters as much as they could for the next three months.
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