Inquiries from the media for US Deputy President Kamala Harris are being met with limited responses. After President Joe Biden relinquished his bid, propelling Harris to the summit of the Democratic nomination, she has demonstrated little enthusiasm to engage with reporters in extemporaneous scenarios. Neither partaking in interviews nor holding news briefings, Harris maintained radio silence till her first spontaneous Q&A rendezvous with journalists following her campaign in Michigan. This interaction spanned a mere 70 seconds.
Harris has assumed the mantle from a Democratic nominee whose record of holding press convocations at the White House is the lowest since the era of Ronald Reagan. She appears to be maintaining this disposition of caution, banking on broadcasted political congregations and rehearsed declarations during her closely managed campaign initiation.
Upon query on Thursday regarding the probability of an imminent interview, Harris proposed deferring it until post the convention. “I aim to schedule an interview prior to this month’s end,” she announced, while her aides signalled the closure of question time to the assembled reporters.
Harris’s minimal interaction with journalists is a persistent theme exploited by the political right. Accusations of evading examination from the Deputy President arise from Republican critics along with Fox News luminaries. Her campaigners maintain their approach of considered strategising to disseminate their agenda and unveil a fresh contender to crucial electors across disputed territories.
The orchestrator of the triumphant campaigns of ex-President Barack Obama, David Axelrod, opined that Harris seems to be treading a fine line. In his mail, Axelrod stated, “The past few weeks have been a maelstrom, with exhilarating rally speeches yielding fruit, Harris is capitalising on this. However, they realise that presidential elections encompass various challenges, inclusive of debates and spontaneous exchanges with voters and media, through which the public gets acquainted with you. There is sufficient time, and I’m confident she’ll get there.” Trump, Harris’s political adversary, holds a less charitable perspective.
There are criticisms from former president Trump about Harris’s effective conducting of press conferences, with Trump stating she lacks the intelligence required. Trump added that, despite a preference for sympathetic interviewers, her performance doesn’t exceed Biden’s. Trump’s criticism was mirrored by Fox News, which highlighted Harris’s tendency to bypass questioning in a live broadcast of Trump’s conference.
Meanwhile, Harris has interacted with journalists, primarily in private settings such as impromptu meetings aboard her campaign aircraft. These sessions differ from Biden’s approach, who only very recently put himself under scrutiny through an interview with CBS’s Robert Costa.
Many political strategists, however, believe Harris is adopting the right strategy. Her campaign rallies have made headlines, and her opening event on Tuesday with Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, was viewed live by almost 8 million people via cable news. These strategists argue that large-scale interviews can bring significant risks early in a campaign, as evidenced by Sarah Palin’s disastrous encounter with Katie Couric.
James Carville, a prominent message strategist during Bill Clinton’s tenure, questioned the necessity of press interviews. He highlighted the myriad tasks the campaign team was juggling, including selecting a vice-president and planning a convention. Carville praised Harris for her prudent time management given the pressure of commencing a presidential campaign just three months ahead of election day.
Trump, however, had been favouring interviews with media outlets disposed sympathetically towards him, providing easier questions and more comfortable interview environments. Trump was exposed to more challenging questions during his appearance at the convention of the National Association of Black Journalists and his 65-minute press conference last Thursday.
The record of Harris in conducting significant interviews is variable. A 2021 interview with NBC’s Lester Holt did not go well, causing worries within the Biden team. However, post that incident, she built stronger connections with influential media personas such as Joe Scarborough and an array of White House reporters. In her latest televised conversation, which was broadcasted right after the June debate on CNN, Harris confidently discussed Biden’s unsatisfactory performance.
Harris’s representatives opine that amid a fragmented media scene, with decreasing faith in conventional news sources, their most potent voter engagement derives from non-traditional platforms like TikTok and their personal social networks.
Kevin Munoz, a representative for Harris, voiced on Thursday that the paramount focus of the vice president is to gain the backing of the electorate who will determine the outcome of this election. According to him, the campaign is employing strategic, innovative, and prompt methods through television commercials, political rallies, local coordinators, and obviously, via interviews that engage their potential voters.
He, however, did not indicate when such an interview would occur.
This was initially published in The New York Times and belongs to The New York Times Company, 2024.