CNN host Jim Acosta recently questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’s communications director, Michael Tyler, regarding her seeming avoidance of engaging with the media. It has been almost a month since Harris assumed since Harris was stepped up to lead the Democratic ticket, and she has yet to host a press conference or give an unscripted media interview.
Acosta pressed the communications director, “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 claimed Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have been too busy with campaign activities. “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?”
The head of Harris’ communications defended the vice president, stating, “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 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.
Harris has received substantial criticism from the Trump campaign, which is constantly engaging with the press, over the vice president’s seeming withdrawal from the media. JD Vance recently sat down with three different adversarial news networks on a Sunday morning, blasting Harris for failing to do anything remotely similar.
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Watch Acosta press the Harris campaign below:
Vance called out Harris on 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 of the vice president while also taking a shot at Walz. “Kamala Harris has done as many tough interviews as Tim Walz has battlefield deployments,” he added.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.