Kamala Harris’s refusal to give serious interviews should ring alarm bells

Kamala Harris joins Oprah Winfrey at a 'Unite for America' live streaming rally in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Picture: AFP

If Kamala Harris wins the presidency in November she’ll be the least scrutinised presidential candidate in US history, by far. In the 78 days she’s been the Democratic candidate – and according to political betting markets the most likely next president of the US – she’s not done a single press conference, which is staggering.

Since Joe Biden’s abdication, @VP Harris has given 6 interviews: To Dana Bash, Brian Taff, Stephanie “Chiquibaby” Himonidis, a panel of NABJ members —Eugene Daniels, Tonya Mosley and Gerren Keith Gaynor— Oprah, and Stephanie Ruhle.

The most often used term to describe the VP’s…

— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) September 28, 2024

Donald Trump, has done six, however unhinged some of them have been, as well as numerous long-form, one-on-one media interviews with hostile and sympathetic media alike, even if a significant share have been with Fox News.

Even Joe Biden has done more, giving his first ever press conference in the White House briefing room last week, where he somewhat unhelpfully, for Harris, said his vice president was a “major player in everything we’ve done”.

“We’re singing from the same song sheet. We, she helped pass all the laws that are being employed,“ he told reporters at the same time as the Harris campaign has been seeking to distance itself from Biden’s record.

For weeks after she became the candidate in July, Harris declined any interviews with media, only in recent weeks dribbling out a series of about half a dozen friendly exchanges with journalists who have been vocal in their support for her, such as Oprah (who spoke at the Democratic Party convention) and Stephanie Rhule at MSNBC, a network one of whose top producers recently admitted was doing “all they can” to help Harris get elected.

BREAKING: @MSNBC Producer Admits MSNBC Is 'Doing All They Can to Help’ the Harris Campaign

During an undercover date with an OMG journalist, Basel Hamdan (@BaselYHamdan), a writer and producer for MSNBC’s show “Ayman,” (@AymanMSNBC) was asked what the network has done to assist… pic.twitter.com/3ghWiKO089

— O’Keefe Media Group (@OKeefeMedia) October 3, 2024

Under pressure to subject herself to greater scrutiny, on Sunday (Monday AEST) a 40 minute interview dropped between Harris and Alexandra Cooper, who hosts a popular ‘girl power’ podcast on sex, dating and relationships called Call Her Daddy, which a few episodes ago dealt with “blow jobs, hall passes and frat daddies”.

“To put it in our Tiktok terms, I have seen girls on the street walk up to men and be like, do you know where a tampon goes?” Cooper exclaimed at one point during the interview.

Harris said she would be a leader who would help women “have voice”, “lift people up” and revealed “there’s so many forces that come in very different ways, that are just trying to make people feel small and alone”.

“I think it’s really important not to let other people define you, and usually those people who will attempt to do it don’t know you,” Harris told an enthralled Cooper, insightfully adding it was important for victims of sexual abuse to “tell someone that you trust”.

On Sunday the Harris campaign announced three further one-on-one interviews this week as part of a self-proclaimed ‘media blitz’, with The View, comedian Stephen Colbert, and Howard Stern, all well-known cheerleaders for the Harris campaign.

Is the Harris team pursing a deliberate ‘small target’ strategy, or is it instead burdened by the small interlocutory talent of its leader? Despite Harris’s impressive career pedigree, Attorney-General of California and before that a senior public prosecutor, it’s looking to be more like the latter.

The Vice-President has repeatedly reverted to hackneyed stories about her allegedly “middle class background” when asked specific questions in the handful of media interviews she has done so far.

“I grew up in a neighbourhood of folks who were very proud of their lawn,” she told journalist Brian Taff, when asked to give specific policies she would enact to reduce prices, without remotely answering the question, in an interview last month.

A prerecorded interview with 60 Minutes will air on Monday night (Tuesday AEST), alongside her running mate Tim Walz. If that exchange doesn’t reveal some intellectual dexterity, American voters might wonder whether Harris would get the better of future negotiations with foreign leaders.