Mainstream press ‘displayed zero self-respect’ amid Kamala Harris press blackout, critics say
Vice President Kamala Harris finally answered a few questions from reporters on Thursday after the Trump-Vance campaign put a harsh spotlight on her weeks-long silence that was largely overlooked by the mainstream press.
Harris has avoided on-the-record questions from journalists since she was dispatched to insist President Biden simply had a "bad night" during his disastrous debate performance in June. Since the debate, former President Trump survived an assassination attempt, President Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Harris replaced him atop the Democratic ticket, and she selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Despite the historic news cycle and Harris emerging as the Democratic nominee without receiving a single primary vote, she had almost completely avoided on-the-record questions until Thursday.
GOP vice-presidential candidate JD Vance implored the media to do better on the issue and get Harris to answer questions Wednesday when he urged reporters to "show a little bit of self-awareness" and pushed Harris to "do the job of a presidential candidate" by speaking to them.
Former President Trump continued to hammer the point during his lengthy Mar-a-Lago press conference on Thursday, and Harris finally took some questions when she spoke on the airport tarmac while campaigning in Michigan.
NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham feels it was Trump and Vance who successfully forced the issue when the press should have been calling it out all along.
"The press has displayed zero self-respect as Kamala Harris has avoided press conferences and interviews for weeks, which they have largely refused to discuss as a controversy, until of course, she ended the drought by taking a few softballs," Graham told Fox News Digital.
"They have treated this issue as a Republican talking point, which it was," he added. "They typically treat all perceived Republican talking points as the opposite of news."
A CNN panel argued about Harris' availability on Thursday, with Harris supporter Bakari Sellers saying it was a dull "Beltway" talking point to care whether she spoke to reporters. S.E. Cupp, an anti-Trump Republican at the network, disagreed and said it mattered to voters that Harris defend her record to the press.
Prior to Harris’ gaggle, which lasted less than two minutes, CNN reporter Stephen Collinson took the "Republicans pounce" approach, writing that the Trump campaign has "cranked up pressure on the vice president to do a major media interview" because they are "apparently hoping to goad her into a forum in which she’s historically been more vulnerable than when delivering scripted speeches."
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Harris’ remarks included claiming she wants to sit down for an interview sometime this month, remarks about meeting Trump for their ABC debate on Sept. 10, and some praise for Walz, who has faced questions about his military record.
Conservative X users were bemused by what they considered "crumbs" and "softballs" from the media, but Graham feels Trump and Vance helped make it happen.
"Trump's press conference surely forced the issue. J.D. Vance strolling over to Kamala's traveling press corps on the tarmac in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to joke about how they looked ‘lonely’ must have had an effect," Graham said.
Graham noticed that most mainstream outlets largely focused on other portions of Trump’s presser, and harped on Vance joking that Air Force Two might be his plane soon when covering the events, while not paying enough attention to their remarks about Harris dodging the press.
Semafor's Dave Weigel suggested more reporters aren't grumbling about access to Harris because she does frequent off-the-record conversations with traveling media on her campaign plane. This gives her the ability to foster relationships and get her talking points into the media bloodstream without her actual remarks going public.
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Conservative radio host Jason Rantz doesn’t feel the press deserves any credit for pushing Harris in front of microphones.
"The media didn’t suddenly notice Kamala wasn’t taking questions. They’re the ones who chose not to press her because they were too busy celebrating the campaign, hoping to play a role in electing her," Rantz told Fox News Digital.
He acknowledged that liberal outlets have carried Trump and Vance press conferences and rallies, allowing the GOP ticket to "directly tell the American people that Kamala won’t answer questions."
"And now she thinks she’ll get a pass for remarkably lame questions from a handful of reporters asking her reaction to Trump’s press conference instead of pressing her on literally any one of the dozens of positions she’s suddenly done an about-face on. And no, sitting for the inevitable one-on-one softball with a liberal reporter won’t cut it," Rantz said.
The Harris campaign told Fox News Digital it was executing a strategy to reach voters in a smart way.
"With under 90 days to go, the Vice President’s top priority is earning the support of the voters who will decide this election," a spokesperson said. "In a limited time period and a fragmented media environment, that requires us being strategic, creative, and expeditious in getting our message to those voters in the ways that are most impactful – through paid media, on the ground organizing, an aggressive campaign schedule, and of course interviews that reach our target voters. It’s a far cry from Trump’s losing, ineffective strategy of rage-posting, accosting reporters, and insulting the voters he’ll need to win."
Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick and David Rutz contributed to this report.