In a quite funny moment to occur on CNN on Tuesday, August 13, a longtime CNN host sounded off on Vice President Kamala Harris in an absolutely scathing critique of the 2024 Democrat nominee’s seeming avoidance of the media and refusal to do press conferences.
That was Chris Cillizza, a former CNN host who was with the network for more than a decade. Cillizza sounded off on Vice President Harris’s seeming reluctance to engage with media outlets, quite in contrast to the media-friendly attitudes of other candidates and politicians.
Cillizza made that point on his X (formerly Twitter) account, noting how long it has been since Biden dropped out and Harris was appointed as his successor, and that despite there being a great deal of time that has passed, Kamala has yet to do an interview with any big outlet.
In the post, Cillizza said, “It’s been 23 days since Joe Biden ended his candidacy. It’s been 7 days since Kamala Harris was formally named the Democratic presidential nominee. She has yet to sit for an interview with ANY media outlet. And she has answered less than 5 total questions from the press.”
Cillizza isn’t the only CNN personality to comment on the issue. CNN’s Jim Acosta pressed Michael Tyler, Harris’s communications director, on the issue, asking, “I’m sure this is not going to be the first time you’ve heard this question, but the Trump campaign is also going after the vice president for not doing enough interviews, for not holding a press conference. Would it kill you guys to have a press conference? Why hasn’t she had a press conference?”
Tyler said, “Listen the Vice President and Governor Walz has been busy crisscrossing this country since the launch of this campaign and adding a Governor Walz to the ticket. You saw the ways in which they went across the battleground states last week, generating rallies of thousands, 10,000 here, 15,000 there,” he said.
However, Acosta quickly pointed out that campaign events are not press conferences or interviews. The CNN host interjected, “But Michael, you know, a campaign rally is not a press conference. Do you mind if I cut in? I mean, you know, a campaign rally is not a press conference. Why hasn’t she had a press conference? She’s the vice president, she can handle the questions, why not do it?”
Further attempting to defend Harris, Tyler said, “We absolutely are going to do it. You hear her take questions as she’s out on the stump, and as she said last week, we’re going to be having a sit-down interview here before the end of the month.” Acosta fired back, “One interview by the end of the month, that is not a lot. Can you commit to a press conference by the end of the month?”
Tyler then, wildly, suggested that the Harris campaign is “built to communicate,” despite the lack of communication with the press. “We will commit to directly engage with the voters. They’re actually going to decide this election, and that is going to be complete with rallies, with sit-down interviews, with press conferences, with all the digital assets at our disposal. We are running a campaign that is built to communicate with the voters,” he added.
Watch that here:
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