According to recent reports, tensions are flaring within Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign over who will lead the decision-making regarding media interviews. Harris recently announced she would sit down for her first interview since stepping up to lead the ticket after Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race last month.
However, questions remain about who among Harris’ staffers will decide who will interview the vice president, creating a sense of disorder within her campaign. Reportedly, up to seven staffers are intensely competing for the position, and tensions are high.
The Harris campaign’s senior advisor for communications, Brian Fallon, is generally believed to be the central figure responsible for these duties. However, interviews allegedly have to be coordinated with Harris’ official office, where the communications director is Kirsten Allen. Further reports suggest that additional figures such as senior adviser for message and strategy Stephanie Cutter, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, and senior advisor David Plouffe, among several others, have influence over Harris’ media presence.
Due to the lack of organized leadership, the Harris campaign staff is reportedly consulting with the press about who the vice president should interview. The American Tribune has covered extensive criticism of Harris, who has been blasted for seemingly avoiding the press. At the same time, other figures, such as RFK Jr. and Donald Trump, have been highly active in the media.
Even the liberal media is calling out Harris, where longtime CNN host Chris 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.”
Furthermore, CNN’s Jim Acosta pressed Harris’ communications director, Michael Tyler, “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?”
JD Vance also took to social media, writing, “I enjoyed sitting down with three of the major networks today to answer the tough questions any leader should answer.” He continued his criticism and cited the controversy surrounding Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, and his disputed military service. “Kamala Harris has done as many tough interviews as Tim Walz has battlefield deployments,” he continued.
Moreover, former President Donald Trump suggested that Harris won’t do interviews because of her trademark cackle she often reveals when speaking. “She’d break out….that’s one of the reasons she refuses to do interviews, I think, because she laughs. It’s so horrible. No, it’s so horrible. You know, she hasn’t done an interview, like, in 30 days or something like that, and I do one every day.”
Trump added, “Don’t you sort of have an obligation, you know, you’re running. They’re going to try, ‘This is her form of the basement.’ Now the basement for him was good, because, you know, they had COVID, they didn’t want him to catch COVID… he ended up catching it anyway.”
Watch Trump below:
"*" indicates required fields