Some elements of the national press are finally starting to understand that Kamala Harris is playing them for fools. Of course, admitting there’s a problem is different than acting on it.
Seven weeks after stabbing Joe Biden in the back and entering the presidential race, the now-Democratic Party presidential nominee has given just a single interview. That was conducted by resident superfan Dana Bash of CNN asking the questions (and feeding the answers), and Harris brought along her running mate, Tim Walz. The vice president has also done zero press conferences, instead choosing to use anonymous aides to push policy position changes to the press.
READ: Kamala Harris Lets Her Radical Freak Flag Fly During CNN Interview
On Friday, Axios finally noticed that Harris has been purposely avoiding them.
With 60 days left in the race, and at the very moment she’s presenting a different ideology than four years ago, Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t getting subjected to the media scrutiny typical for a presidential nominee.
Why it matters: Harris is copying President Biden’s self-protection media strategy — duck tough interviews and limit improvisational moments.
I’m not sure what’s more frustrating. That Kamala Harris doesn’t even have an official policy platform yet and early voting is already starting, or that the supposed news outlets are trying to play the victim in the face of that. If only there was a massive “fourth estate” with enormous, worldwide influence that could report honestly on Harris and pressure her into doing interviews and press conferences.
If you are to believe Axios’ framing, they and other mainstream news sources are helpless. There’s just nothing they can do. That contradiction between complaining about Harris’ strategy and the press feeding into it is illustrated later in the same article.
What they’re saying: Harris and her campaign haven’t provided many details explaining her policy shifts.
- A Harris campaign aide explained to Axios that she’s no longer pushing Medicare for All because of what she learned during her four years of experience in the White House, and seeing how the Biden administration has expanded coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
Do you know what the press could do if they want to make Harris speak clearly and publicly about her policy positions? They could stop publishing anonymous sources like the one cited above. Every single time an anonymous “aide” is allowed to change a Harris position with no further details or explanation, her campaign is given every incentive to continue hiding the candidate behind a teleprompter.
But instead of using the power they have, the press seems content to continue being run over. A recent study showed Harris received positive media coverage at a rate of 84 percent since entering the race. Keep in mind, that doesn’t even mean the other 16 percent was negative. Most of what was left was likely neutral. Finding an actual negative story about Kamala Harris is nearly impossible.
SEE: Study Shows the Lengths Media Is Having to Go to Make Kamala Harris Look Good
All of this could change tomorrow if the press started to do its job. They won’t, though, because mainstream journalists see a greater cause in ensuring Donald Trump is defeated. They’ll nibble at the edges as Axios did with their piece, but when push comes to shove, they’ll take their lumps and keep praising Harris right up until November.
