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KAMALA Harris has been hit with backlash for failing to hold a press conference in the 23 days since Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed her as the Democratic presidential candidate.

Harris hit the ground running when she began campaigning but has been slammed for neglecting to take questions from the press and instead focusing on speaking to her supporters at rallies.

President Biden ended his bid for re-election on July 21 and quickly endorsed Harris as his replacement.

She secured enough delegates to become the nominee and launched a full-fledged campaign using Biden’s team almost immediately.

Harris named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate on August 6.

The two debuted together for the first time a day later in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

Since late July, Harris has appeared at six campaign rallies – in Georgia, Texas, Nevada, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.

Despite her ambitious campaign schedule, one event noticeably has disappeared from her calendar – a press conference.

As the days trail on, Harris has yet to hold a formal press conference or interview with a media outlet.

Harris has also been criticized for recycling the same content during public appearances.

She typically begins her rally speeches by saying it’s “good to be back” in the state and adds that the “path to the White House” begins there.

Harris told Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, and Georgia crowds that winning the White House meant winning their states.

She also frequently cites her summer job at McDonald’s at her rallies.

‘I KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S TYPE’

When addressing her competitor, Donald Trump, Harris has reiterated that she “knows his type.”

Harris often reflects on her career as a state prosecutor when she “took on perpetrators of all kinds.”

“Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain, so hear me when I say – I know Donald Trump’s type,” Harris said in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, and a campaign event in Delaware.

At the Reading Area Community College, Harris spoke to a moderator and said, “The point about progress is to have the ability to have a vision and a belief in some faith in what can be unburdened by what has been.”

Harris has repeated the same line at multiple rallies and campaign events.

She frequently asks the crowd at her rallies, “Are we ready to fight for it?!”

After posing the rhetorical question, Harris typically says, “When we fight! We win!”

She reiterated these lines at her rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Fox News cut a clip of Harris’ speeches in the two battleground states where she repeated multiple of the same lines.

Some social media users slammed Harris for being “inauthentic” and “rehearsed,” but others pointed out that stump speeches are common in political campaigns.

It’s common for candidates to write have one go-to speech and deliver it multiple times on the campaign trail.

The term “stump” comes from the Revolutionary War era when candidates stood on an actual stump to give speeches in rural communities.

Barack Obama also used a stump speech during his presidential campaign.

Since Biden ran for president during the Covid-19 pandemic and couldn’t hold large-scale rallies, he didn’t practice a famous stump speech like his predecessors.

Although Trump also recycles lines in his public appearances, he’s known for going off the cuff more frequently than other politicians.

‘WHAT YOU GOT?’

While campaigning in Detroit, Harris briefly stopped to take questions from reporters near her plane.

“What you got?!” she asked as she rattled off brief answers from the press.

Harris discussed her debate with Trump and said she was open to debating with him more than once.

When asked why she thought Trump was hesitant to debate her, she responded, “I am beyond trying to speculate on what he thinks.”

Harris shut down rumors that Walz evaded serving in the Iraq War during his tenure in the military.

She also addressed her infrequent media appearances, telling reporters she’s talked to her team about scheduling an interview before the end of August.

There hasn’t been an update on when the interview will take place or who will be conducting it.

TRUMP CAMP FIRES BACK

Trump and his running mate JD Vance have been sitting down for interviews and press conferences while on the campaign trail.

Trump recently sat down for an interview with Elon Musk and slammed Harris for avoiding reporters.

“It’s pretty sad when you think that somebody that does this for a living can’t answer a question or is afraid to do an interview, and in her case, with a very friendly interviewer,” Trump told Musk.

“She’s got all friendly interviewers,” he added.

Trump echoed a similar opinion at a campaign event in Florida, telling the press, “She doesn’t know how to do a news conference; she’s not smart enough to do a news conference.”

“She should be doing interviews. She doesn’t want to do interviews.”

MEDIA BLOWBACK

The media has ripped Harris for dodging interactions, with a Fox News panel weighing in on her lack of interviews.

Fox News anchor Anita Vogel said that Harris’ avoidance of the press was “insulting.”

“That’s what we [the press] do, and the press should be insulted that she is not taking time to answer their questions,” she said

“It doesn’t matter whether she’s a man or woman, she is a candidate for the President of the United States, and she needs to take questions from the press. It is absolutely insulting.”

Fox News contributor Miranda Devine agreed, arguing that Harris was trying to “hide from scrutiny.”

David Axelrod, a campaign strategist for Obama, defended Harris’ rallies to the New York Times.

“This has been a whirlwind few weeks, and right now, buoyant rally speeches are working really well, so she’s riding the wave,” he argued.

“But I’m sure they know that, in addition, presidential races impose a series of tests, including debates and unscripted interactions with voters and media, by which people come to know you.

“There is time, and I’m sure she’ll get there.”

Harris’s lack of media appearances has made some voters unclear on her policy stances.

Pollster Scott Rasmussen told The Hill that the only issue a majority of voters knew her stance on was opposition to restrictions on abortion.

Harris’ rally speeches also offer a broad vision for her prospective administration and rarely address specific policy stances.

Originally published in The US Sun on August 13, 2024

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