On dodging the media, Kamala Harris 'owes responses' to the American public, says campaign adviser
A Harris campaign adviser conceded Sunday that Vice President Kamala Harris "owes responses" to the American public about why she has shifted her stance on policies like fracking, adding that she will sit for an interview "before the end of this month."
News of Harris' first formal interview since becoming the Democratic Party's nominee for president came Sunday, during an appearance by Harris' deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, on Fox News's "Media Buzz" with Howie Kurtz. During the discussion, Kurtz pressed Fulks on whether he felt Harris needed to explain to voters why – on issues like fracking and health care – she has backtracked on several of her formerly far-left, progressive stances touted amid Harris' 2020 presidential run.
"Look, I think that the vice president owes responses to the American people," Fulks said. He pointed the finger at former President Trump for stirring up misinformation about Harris' views on topics like fracking and health care. "We're not going to be worried about explaining anything to Donald Trump, or people – the vice president is going to talk to the American people about what her positions are."
Harris has been criticized for failing to take interviews or hold press conferences since becoming the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee over a month ago. The Harris-Walz campaign lacks any information about the pair's policy views on their campaign website as well, and the recent policy platform unveiled by the Democratic National Convention (DNC) cited President Biden and his policies more than it did Harris'.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign to glean more details about the vice president's upcoming interview, but did not receive a response.
Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said Sunday on ABC News that Harris "owes" the American public an explanation on when and why she changed her policy positions on various issues.
"She needs to address the American people and speak to these questions because the only basis they have to conclude what she will be like as president is what she’s done for four years in this administration and what she said in her own voice in the last campaign," Cotton said.
Meanwhile, some of Harris' supporters think she should continue dodging the media.
For example, Rick Wilson, former GOP strategist and co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said last week that Harris "has no f---ing necessity to do interviews right now."
"They should go out and keep racing along and doing the big things, do what's working right now – which is going out and holding massive, enthusiastic rallies that are bringing people into the Democratic fold again, that are exciting voters," Wilson continued.
The same opinion was echoed by legendary Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino, who told talk show host Bill Maher that "sometimes it's just about f---ing winning."
"She's not stopping to stumble," Tarantino told Maher. "And there's nothing wrong to – and I'm going to vote for her f---ing anyway, no matter what she says in a stupid f---ing interview. So don't f--- s--- up!"
‘WHATEVER’: DEMOCRATS REACT TO KAMALA HARRIS' LACK OF INTERVIEWS
Delegates at the DNC last week had similar, albeit less aggressive, takes on Harris' failure to go in front of the media.
"Let's give some time," Heather Pirowski, a delegate from Indiana, said last week. "I think just be patient because it's all gonna come."
"Right now, our main concern is uniting the party," said another. "And once that's done, I think she's gonna come out and speak to the American people."
At least one delegate couldn't understand why Harris was being criticized for not going in front of the media. "I don't know what that's about," the Texas delegate said at the convention last week. "I mean, when they have to resort to those tactics and the name-calling and the vitriol and the misogynistic – he's back to 2016 when that's all he did against Hillary."