(LibertySociety.com) – In the two weeks since President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president as the Democrat’s presidential nominee, Kamala Harris has refused to give a sit-down interview or press conference with reporters.
Harris officially secured the nomination on Monday after 99 percent of the delegates selected the vice president in virtual voting.
However, Harris’s lack of press availability has not gone unnoticed, even by some in the news media.
In a post on X Monday afternoon, reporter Chris Cillizza noted that the Democrat nominee had given “zero media interviews” and “zero press conferences” in the two weeks since she began her campaign.
In that time, Harris has only offered one off-the-cuff remark in response to a reporter’s question.
Harris joined President Biden at the airport last week to greet the plane carrying the Americans released in the prisoner exchange with Russia. When asked by a reporter how she felt about their return, Harris offered a meandering comment citing the power and significance of diplomacy.
The semi-coherent response confirmed what some Democrat strategists have described as the vice president’s greatest weakness, namely, her inability to speak extemporaneously.
A Democrat strategist told The Hill last week that the Harris campaign would have to lift its press embargo eventually if they don’t want voters to think that the vice president is incapable of answering challenging questions.
Republican strategist Matt Gorman noted that things go south for Harris when she is not able to control “every variable.”
Gorman told The Hill that the Harris campaign would probably try to limit her interactions with the press as much as possible in the three months that remain before Election Day.
Meanwhile, with Republican nominee Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the September 10 ABC News debate, Vice President Harris has said that she would show up and hold a town hall on ABC News instead.
Whether the Harris campaign is willing to allow the vice president to field questions for 90 minutes remains to be seen.
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