Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a formal press conference in 13 days since she was confirmed as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris announced she had secured the nomination late on July 22, declaring that she had received the pledged support of a majority of the roughly 4,000 delegates who will attend next month’s Democratic National Convention. Since then, she has been out campaigning, speaking at various events and speaking with reporters here and there, but has not held a formal press conference or extensive interview in the 13 days since.
She also did not attend the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago, where former President Trump engaged in a heated Q&A on Wednesday. On Thursday, she gave a brief address to reporters at Andrews Air Force Base, where she and President Biden welcomed Americans released from Russia in a major prisoner swap, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
“This is a great testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy, who understands the importance of diplomacy and the strength that comes from understanding stronger alliances,” Harris said. “Today is an incredible day.”
Harris, who became the front-runner for the nomination without winning a single primary vote when President Biden announced his departure last month, has been so elusive that The New York Times published an excerpt from an interview she did last year to get a sense of her “where are we now” answer.
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Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a press conference in 10 days since she was confirmed as the Democratic presidential nominee. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Most Democrats, including governors, senators, representatives and party leaders, quickly endorsed Harris following Biden’s shocking news, but critics are starting to notice that she hasn’t faced tougher questioning since then.
Noah Rothman, a senior writer at National Review, asked his social media followers on Wednesday, “When will Kamala Harris hold a press conference?”
The RNC’s X investigative account noted Wednesday that Harris has only given “speeches via teleprompter,” and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said, “Harris hasn’t answered one tough question in the last week and a half.”
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Tim Graham, editor-in-chief of NewsBusters, expects her to follow President Biden’s 2020 playbook, in which he was accused of hiding in his basement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Kamala Harris should absolutely hold a press conference. She will hold one when she nominates him as her running mate. But we can’t expect Biden to break away from his repeated approach of avoiding press conferences,” Graham told Fox News Digital.
“Since the 2020 election campaign, we have witnessed the bizarre spectacle of Donald Trump allowing widespread access to the media that daily denounces him as a fascist, while Biden and Harris refuse to give interviews to media that hyperbolically criticize them and their ‘historic achievements,'” he continued. “Either they believe the press is never compliant enough, or they are displaying a total lack of confidence in their efforts to construct 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)
Jeffrey McCaul, a media studies professor at DePauw University, believes the Harris campaign is “fully aware that Biden won the 2020 election while avoiding the media throughout the campaign.”
“The Harris campaign is also well aware that their candidate doesn’t fare well in an unscripted setting, not to mention that in press conferences and formal interviews, Harris will have to defend some of her positions, past statements and track record. So a fresh run at Biden’s underground campaign looks pretty good, as long as it includes a few rallies with Megan Thee Stallion,” McCall added. Stallion is a rapper who appeared at Harris’ Atlanta rally on Tuesday.
He suggested that Democrats would support Harris anyway, so she doesn’t feel pressured to hold a press conference just because she didn’t win the nomination.
“Her supporters don’t expect her to be accountable and don’t really care about her policy positions. They’re happy that she’s not Biden or Trump,” McCaul said.
“But in terms of rhetorical strategy, Harris should actually hold a press conference and do real journalistic interviews,” he continued. “At some point, she’s going to have to attract moderates and undecided voters who want to see her answer questions.”
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to begin in Chicago on August 19th.
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Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
