Reporter Tells MSNBC That Harris’ Past ‘Damaging Moments’ Are ‘On The Mind’ Of Campaign As She Avoids Interviews

NOTUS reporter Jasmine Wright on Thursday said Vice President Kamala Harris’ past failed interviews preoccupy her campaign as she avoids the press during her presidential run.

Harris has not sat down for any interviews since starting her campaign following President Joe Biden withdrawing and endorsing her on July 21. Wright, on “José Díaz-Balart Reports,” said the vice president has been using this strategy, even before launching her presidential campaign, because she has not fared well in past interviews. (RELATED: ‘Kamala Was In On It’: Trump-Aligned PAC Drops Anti-Kamala Harris Ad Less Than Two Hours After Biden Quit)

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Reporter Tells MSNBC That Harris’ Past ‘Damaging Moments’ Are ‘ On The Mind’ Of Campaign As She Avoids Interviews pic.twitter.com/KLdXU7t4H7

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 8, 2024

“It is not that she hasn’t engaged press, but it has certainly been on the vice president’s own terms, as kind of it has been for the last three years that she’s been vice president. She goes back and she talks to the press on the plane. Those are typically off-the-record comments,” Wright said. “If she does want to make a statement on the news of the day, we’ve seen her approach the press waiting under the wing of Air Force Two to give a statement. But then she turns away before questions, before answering any questions.”

“And so I think that the public is expecting, or certainly the media is expecting, for her to engage more with reporters now that she has replaced Biden at the top of the ticket. Now I know, just from covering her the last really six years, that her engagements with the press are varied,” she added.

Harris sat down for an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt in 2021, where she admitted she still hadn’t visited the southern border.

The vice president recently went off-script to discuss the prisoner swap President Joe Biden orchestrated with Russia, with some describing her comments as a “word salad.”

“This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy,” the vice president told reporters while standing next to Biden.

Kamala’s First Unscripted Comment Since Becoming Nominee Is Unmitigated Word Salad pic.twitter.com/rbvI3Y1NOU

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 2, 2024

“Certainly, as she’s been vice president, we’ve known that we’ve seen some kind of damaging moments when her speaking to the press, particularly that first interview she did in 2021 with Lester Holt about her work on immigration,” Wright said. “And so I think that that is something that’s always been on the mind of her office and the vice president herself. Of course, we’ve reported that she has been doing media training … over her vice presidency. So I think that that’s the major question … time is running short for her to kind of present herself in front of the media.”

CNN’s Van Jones warned on Wednesday that Harris’ avoidance of interviews “can’t last.”

“It’s very important. And we can’t make favorites. Anybody running for the top office needs to be as available as possible,” he said.

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