Former President Trump’s campaign is accusing Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris of dodging the press during her sudden sprint to the November election, with her rivals apparently attempting to goad her into fielding unscripted questions.
“Kamala refuses to do interviews because her team realizes she is unable to answer questions, much like Biden was not able to answer questions, but for different reasons,” Trump posted on Truth Social this week.
Harris has not taken on-the-record questions from reporters on the campaign trail since clinching the Democratic nomination, though she has reportedly spoken off-the-record with traveling campaign reporters.
She also did not appear at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago last week, citing a scheduling conflict. Trump took part and fielded questions during an at-times combative interview at the event.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement Wednesday that in the two weeks since "Harris replaced her mentor" atop the Democratic ticket, the vice president "has refused to engage with the press or participate in interviews."
"It sounds like the Kamala-Walz campaign is scared of talking about their liberal records or policies, instead talking about non-sensical things like couches and coconuts," he said in a dig at the Harris campaign's embrace of memes and other viral trends.
Trump held a press briefing, with campaign-approved reporters, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Springs, Fla., today, where he tore into rival Harris and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Harris and Walz have gone on a battleground blitz since she formally announced him as her VP pick in Philadelphia on Tuesday. They are hitting up seven states in five days, including stops in Michigan and North Carolina today, before ending with a stop in Las Vegas on Saturday. Both also will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month.
Trump and Harris have agreed to at least one debate, on September 10 on ABC.
After his press conference, Trump is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Montana on Friday. But the former president has otherwise been mostly absent from the campaign trail this week, while his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has made the rounds, including a competing appearance while Harris and Walz were in Wisconsin on Wednesday that included a tarmac stroll by Air Force Two.
“I just wanted to check out my future plane,” he told campaign reporters gathered for the arrival of Harris and Walz.
Vance also took aim at Harris for not engaging with the media.
“Thought you guys might be lonely because the vice president doesn’t answer questions from reporters,” he said at the airfield.
Trump's former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham speculated that there is something more going on behind-the-scenes with the former president.
She shared her thoughts on the social media platform X: "He’s panicking. I’ve seen this play many times. He thinks his team is failing him & no one can speak better/'save' his campaign/defend him but him. He hates the coverage Harris is getting & thinks only he can fix it."
Grisham has become a prominent Trump critic since resigning from her role as then-first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report this week shifted its ratings in three key swing states toward Harris's favor.
Arizona, Georgia, Nevada were all rated “lean Republican” states in early July. But polls have shown Harris narrowing the gap with Trump – and pulling ahead in some cases – prompting the nationally recognized handicapper to reclassify the three battlegrounds as “toss up” states.
