Vice President Kamala Harris' interview drought finally ends on Thursday, but 39 days after she was formally nominated as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, she has yet to hold a formal press conference, and it's unclear whether she will hold one as a candidate.
Pressured to do a substantive interview after weeks of stonewalling, she spoke to CNN's Dana Bash on Thursday, with vice presidential candidate Tim Walz also scheduled to appear.
In a rare and brief press conference since taking over from President Biden, Harris insisted on Aug. 9 that she hoped to “schedule an interview by the end of the month.” It took another 18 days for the interview to finally be released.
Kamala Harris gives first CNN interview after weeks of avoiding the press, with Tim Waltz joining
Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a press conference in more than five weeks since she was confirmed as the Democratic presidential nominee. (Reuters/Kevin Wurm)
As for when she will hold a formal press conference, that day may never come.
“She won't hold a single press conference in the 75 days leading up to Election Day,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha predicted earlier this month.
Former President Trump has sought to highlight the differences between the two presidents' media presence, giving several lengthy interviews and holding two news conferences in recent weeks.
Harris has been known to struggle when faced with difficult questions, often laughing awkwardly or giving incoherent, confusing answers.
In 2021, Harris struggled to explain her border security strategy, and when asked by NBC News host Lester Holt why she hadn't visited the southern border, she infamously joked that she'd never even been to Europe.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican vice presidential nominee Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio. (Getty Images)
In 2023, The New York Times reported that after her “disastrous” meeting with Holt, she “mostly holed herself up in her bunker for about a year, avoiding many interviews because aides feared she would make a mistake and disappoint Biden.”
It remains to be seen whether Bash will scrutinize Harris's many policy shifts from 2020 to 2024. Harris has turned around her 2024 campaign since replacing Biden, giving Democrats new hope they can keep the White House after things looked grim for them following Biden's debate gaffes.
But she drew flak even from friendly media after blatantly dodging interview requests and only granting a joint interview once the blackout finally ended.
“We can't leave her alone,” National Review reporter Jeff Behar wrote to X, adding that “Tim Waltz is clearly Kamala Harris' 'Midwestern heartthrob,' to quote a colleague at National Review.”
Huckabee Sanders criticizes Harris for joint interview with Waltz: 'I can't do it 'alone''
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)
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Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
