AP Photo/Darron Cummings; AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Frequent viewers of Fox News have been reminded repeatedly that Vice President Kamala Harris has not taken any tough questions in a sit-down interview or press conference in the 19 days since she ostensibly took over as the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden stepped aside.
And they are absolutely correct in reporting this, not just to inform but as a means to add pressure to the Harris campaign to finally engage with the Fourth Estate and demonstrate the facility, expertise, and toughness that comes with direct and critical questioning. It’s time for other media outlets to join in Fox News’s criticism.
Former President Donald Trump has been ubiquitous in Trump-friendly media environments, frequently appearing on pro-Trump opinion-based programs hosted by Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Maria Bartiromo, or, say, Fox & Friends.
To be clear, Trump has also avoided tough questions. His last difficult interview was in June 2023, when he was effectively grilled by Bret Baier.
To his credit, however, Trump did agree to a controversial sit down with the National Association of Black Journalists in a contentious back and forth that threw off dozens of headlines and was reportedly cut short by the Trump Team for reasons we can only imagine. Then, early Thursday morning the former president announced a Mar-a-Lago “general news conference” for 2 PM later in the day, which one former senior communications saw as evidence that “he’s panicking” — perhaps due to a sudden shift in the polls.
Whatever the motivation, Trump’s willingness to be confronted by critical members of the press puts in stark relief that Harris has successfully avoided doing the very same. It doesn’t take a genius to surmise why this has been the case.
For one, she has been remarkably busy after getting shoehorned into the nomination and turning the proverbial aircraft carrier of the presidential campaign around and pointed to a pro-Harris destination.
In her first appearance at the Delaware-based campaign headquarters, Harris came off as remarkably authentic and capable in clearly articulating an argument against Trump. We’ve seen similar performances during her half dozen or so rallies that occurred since. She appears to have evolved notably from her 2020 campaign performances in a manner that suits her.
That said, there are still significant questions about her ability to concisely answer difficult questions about her record on big issues in this election. She played a key role as “border czar-not Border Czar” during a Biden administration that saw record numbers of illegal immigration. The U.S. economy is very strong, but inflation is a massive bugbear and a huge issue in this coming election. There are obviously some political issues — like reproductive rights following the Dobbs decision — that she likely feels are a strong fit for her agenda, but the American people deserve to hear her answers on the tougher topics as well.
The Harris campaign has cleverly framed its run for office as an “underdog” fight. Following the naming of Governor Tim Walz as running mate, it has gone long on “coach” references. It’s shocking that it hasn’t licensed the “clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” slogan from Friday Night Lights. But significant policy questions remain, chief among them is whether she’s running as an incumbent following the Biden Administration’s policies or if she has ideas of her own that are distinct and different.
We don’t know this because her campaign hasn’t put forth any policy documents yet. To be fair, they only started the Harris campaign 19 days ago, but voters will soon need to know where she stands, or more to the point, how and why she is different than Biden. These are the sorts of questions — on the economy, foreign policy, domestic spending, et cetera — that curious reporters will ask, and to which she needs to respond.
The Harris honeymoon treatment by the media was real, and no, it was not some sort of indictment of over-the-top bias. Political media reporters are like kids on Christmas, and when presented with a shiny new object — in this case, a Kamala Harris nomination —they will ooh and ah as an initial reaction. But the novelty of her campaign, her running mate, and, yes, the coming DNC will eventually fade. And she has to sit down for a tough interview or at least take tough questions (and no, an appearance on the Democrat-friendly prime time MSNBC won’t count any more than Trump chatting with his pal Hannity).
Now Harris isn’t completely avoiding the press. Dave Weigel reported that, unlike Biden, the Vice President is mingling with traveling reporters in off-the-record conversations. Does this off-camera access relate to more favorable coverage? Well, to be frank, there hasn’t been much critical coverage thus far outside of Fox News.
And not all of the criticism is well thought out. JD Vance went so far as to trot out the well-worn “campaigning from the basement” chestnut used against Biden during the Covid-19 epidemic. Harris is out and campaigning to surprisingly packed and enthusiastic rallies. But the sum totality of her public comments that have not been from a teleprompter has been slim to nil.
Harris has gotten something of a pass so far for avoiding the press. But today is the day that its no longer excusable due to a busy schedule or sudden change of plans. Kamala Harris needs to take tough questions, and political media of all stripes should be insisting she do it sooner rather than later, for the good of the body politic.
Mediaite reached out to the Harris campaign for comment, but did not receive a response.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
