Alex Thompson, a CNN political analyst and national political reporter for Axios, said Monday that Vice President Harris would “absolutely” do interviews, but was being cautious because many of her “worst moments” during the Biden administration have happened during live interviews.
“The question is, who’s the host, is it a more friendly host or is it a more serious, in-depth interview, how long will it be, will it be edited, will it be live? All of these questions are part of Harris’s caution, but her extraordinary caution when it comes to interviews has made some Democrats nervous about making her the nominee. It’s also why people like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were in favor of an open process, because most of her worst moments as vice president happened in live interviews,” Thompson said.
Harris has not given a media interview or formal press conference in 36 days since emerging as the Democratic front-runner in late July.
CNN host slams VP’s schedule for avoiding press: ‘She has time for interviews’
CNN political analyst Alex Thompson said Monday that Harris’ team is being cautious about interviews because her “worst moments” have occurred during live interviews. (Screenshot/CNN)
Matt Gorman, a former adviser to Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign, said Harris should have been interviewed but he understood why she was hesitant.
“The flip side of that is, as I’ve seen candidate after candidate, debate prep is also media prep. Media prep is debate prep: you listen to the lines, you refine your arguments, you get better. Every candidate I’ve ever worked with gets better with every interview because they get edgy and they see what people outside the bubble are really going to attack and ask,” Gorman said.
Megan Hayes, who worked in the Biden administration, said she doesn’t think Harris needs to give interviews, but she needs to start preparing for the debate.
“I think it’s a media thing, and if we don’t get it under control, I think it’s going to continue to snowball in the media and become something that poses a bigger risk than if she just did an interview. So now that she’s gone through the convention, she has momentum, she’s raised a lot of money, I think she should probably do an interview,” she said.
Hayes suggested starting with morning shows and “soft” interviews and going from there, and reiterated that Harris doesn’t need to do interviews in the lead up to the convention because of the positive momentum she has.
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Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris appears on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin, File)
Harris declined an interview with Time magazine, which recently wrote a cover story praising the vice president.
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Thompson said the risks to Harris giving the interview were now much higher.
“Any mistake she makes will be quickly attacked by Trump and his campaign,” he added.
