Vice President Kamala Harris has gone 22 days, as of Monday, without holding a formal news conference or in-person interview since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris became the de facto nominee after President Biden endorsed her on July 21, when he dropped out of the race, and has since officially clinched the nomination. She has been busy on the campaign trail, speaking at various events and making informal comments to reporters at various times, but has not held a formal press conference or wide-ranging interview in the three weeks since.
Harris, amid mounting criticism in that regard, spoke briefly to reporters traveling with her to Michigan on Thursday. In a conversation lasting just over a minute, she said she looked forward to debating former President Trump on Sept. 10 on ABC and defended the military record of her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
He also said his team was trying to arrange an interview for later this month. On Saturday, he spoke briefly to reporters in Phoenix and answered questions about his policy platform, the latest news on the Gaza war and the role of the Federal Reserve.
The left-leaning Washington Post editorial board on Sunday criticized Harris for shunning the media and said of her opponent that she has “at least answered questions.” The Post said Harris should account for her numerous policy shifts, including those related to fracking, border security and private health insurance.
KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTERS HAVE FELT UNCERTAINTY WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE VICE PRESIDENT'S POLITICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Vice President Kamala Harris has gone three weeks without holding a press conference since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The issue has also caught the attention of Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, who has implored the media to do a better job of getting Harris to answer questions.
During a news conference Wednesday in Detroit, Vance urged reporters to “show some self-awareness” and encouraged Harris to “do the job of a presidential candidate” by speaking to them.
“Until she does, they need to stop offering her a honeymoon and pretending she's something she's not,” he said.
Vance sat through three Sunday shows, fielding pointed and even hostile questions from CNN, CBS and ABC, while Harris and Walz were content to send surrogates.
Trump also criticized his lack of media access during his lengthy press conference at Mar-a-Lago last week.
“She doesn't know how to hold a press conference; she's not smart enough to hold a press conference,” he said.
Noah Rothman, a senior editor at National Review, recently asked his social media followers: “When is Kamala Harris holding a press conference?”
“The most revealing exposure a candidate can undergo is a lengthy press conference, and that is precisely what Harris needs to do. In fact, know “That's what she needs to do because just a few weeks ago Democratic political professionals and their allies insisted that that's what Biden needed to do,” she wrote for National Review.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance (Getty Images)
NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham hopes she follows President Biden's lead in 2020, when he was famously accused of hiding in his basement during the COVID pandemic.
“Kamala Harris should hold a press conference, no doubt. You'd expect her to do that when she announces her vice presidential nominee. But we can't expect her to abandon Biden's tendency to avoid press conferences,” Graham told Fox News Digital.
“Since the 2020 campaign, we have witnessed the bizarre spectacle of Donald Trump granting broad access to networks that suggest he is a fascist and attack him on a daily basis, while Biden and Harris will not grant interviews to media outlets that praise them and their 'historic achievements,'” he continued. “Either they believe the press can never be servile enough or they are projecting a complete lack of confidence in their efforts to put together complete sentences.”
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Critics have noted that Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a formal press conference since President Biden ended his reelection campaign. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Harris' campaign told Fox News Digital last week that it was pursuing a strategy to better reach voters.
“With less than 90 days until the election, the Vice President’s top priority is earning the support of the voters who will decide this election,” a spokesperson said. “In a limited time frame and in a fragmented media environment, that requires us to be strategic, creative and quick to get our message to those voters in the ways that will have the greatest impact — through paid media, on-the-ground organizing, an aggressive campaign program and, of course, interviews that reach our target voters. It’s very different from Trump’s losing and ineffective strategy of publishing angry messages, harassing reporters and insulting the voters he will need to win.”
“If Donald Trump is so concerned about the success of Vice President Harris' campaign, he could, you know, take to the streets. We're more than happy for him to highlight his losing election agenda: ending the ACA, killing a bipartisan border bill, and supporting a national abortion ban.”
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Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
