Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview drought is about to end after 38 days since she became the Democratic Party’s de facto nominee.
After weeks of refusal, she agreed to speak with CNN anchor Dana Bash on Thursday. Her running mate Tim Walz will join her in the interview, which will be recorded that day and aired Thursday night.
In one of her few brief press appearances since taking over from President Biden, Harris insisted on August 9 that she wanted to “get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.” It took another 18 days for an interview to finally be announced.
KAMALA HARRIS GIVES FIRST INTERVIEW TO CNN AFTER WEEKS OF DODGING PRESS, COVERED BY TIM WALZ
Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a news conference in more than five weeks since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. (Reuters/Kevin Wurm)
As for when she will hold an official press conference, that day may never come.
“You won’t see a single press conference from her in the next 75 days until Election Day,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha predicted last week.
Former President Trump has sought to highlight the contrast between the two men’s media availability, giving several lengthy interviews in recent weeks and also holding two news conferences.
Harris has always struggled to answer difficult questions, often appearing to laugh awkwardly or offering confused, muddled answers.
In 2021, Harris struggled to explain a strategy for securing the border and joked that she had not been to Europe either, when NBC News anchor Lester Holt asked her why she had not visited the southern border.
HOW LONG WILL KAMALA HARRIS’ HONEYMOON LAST IN THE POLL AGAINST DONALD TRUMP?
Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio. (Getty Images)
In 2023, the New York Times reported that she “virtually locked herself in a bunker for about a year, avoiding many interviews for fear, aides said, of making mistakes and disappointing Mr. Biden” after the “disastrous” meeting with Holt.
It remains to be seen whether Bash will dwell on the many policy changes Harris made between 2020 and 2024. Harris has reversed the tide in the White House race since replacing Biden, giving Democrats renewed hope that they can hold on to the White House after Biden’s debate debacle.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote Friday that his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination lacked substance.
“Harris introduced herself to the American public on Thursday, and her presentation was much like the one at this week’s Democratic convention: well-presented, confident and upbeat, and largely devoid of policy content. Whether she can keep up this pace, unexplained and unexposed, for the next 12 weeks will determine whether she becomes the 47th president of the United States,” the WSJ editorial board wrote.
The WSJ noted a variety of “lies” scattered throughout his scripted speech, including misleading attacks on Trump regarding abortion rights, Medicare and Social Security.
Former Clinton aide Paul Begala defends Harris avoiding media: ‘Who cares?’
Critics have noted that Vice President Kamala Harris has not held a formal press conference since President Biden ended his re-election campaign. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“Harris tried to present a vision for her presidency, but it was mostly empty platitudes. She will provide an ‘opportunity,’ though she didn’t say how. She will solve the housing crisis, without saying how or explaining why there is a crisis under her watch. And she will reduce prices, without repeating her recent proposal to impose price controls,” the WSJ editorial board wrote.
Harris would likely be asked how closely she wants to be tied to the Biden dossier in a serious interview.
Other topics she is likely to address include several key foreign policy issues, such as Israel and Ukraine.
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Paul Steinhauser of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
