A Candidate About Nothing

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A Candidate About Nothing

CNN political analyst Alex Thompson discussed Vice President Kamala Harris’s “caution” when it comes to interviews, noting that her “worst moments” in the Biden administration occurred during live interviews. Harris has avoided interviews for 36 days (and counting if I didn’t miss anything overnight) since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, leading to concerns among Democrats about her ability to handle live media. Thompson highlighted that the format and interviewer choice are crucial and that any misstep could be exploited by opponents like Trump. Yes, we’ll just pounce on her inability to talk to the friendliest media!

Fox News noted that former political advisers, including Matt Gorman and Meghan Hays, also emphasized the importance of media prep.

"The other side of this is that, look I‘ve seen this with candidate after candidate, debate prep is also media prep. Media prep is debate prep. You hear the lines, you can refine your arguments, you get better. Every candidate I‘ve ever worked with gets better the more they do interviews, because they get sharper and they know what really, outside of the bubble, what the people are going to attack them on or question them on," Gorman said. 

Meghan Hays, who worked in the Biden White House, said she didn't think Harris had to sit for interviews, but said she needed to start doing debate prep. 

"I think it’s a media story, right? And I think that if you don’t take control of it, it will just continue to snowball in the media, and then it becomes more of a high-stakes thing than if you just did the interview. So where now she’s passed the convention, she has the momentum, they’ve raised a ton of money. I think she should probably sit down for an interview," she said.

Hays suggested starting with a morning show or a "softer" interview and suggested they build from there. She reiterated that she didn't think Harris needed to give an interview leading up to the convention because of the positive momentum she had. 

Despite her avoidance of interviews, including declining a TIME magazine interview, there is growing pressure from Democrats for Harris to engage with the media to maintain control of the narrative. The stakes for Harris are seen as particularly high as the campaign progresses. At this point, many voters may only know her for her cackle and clip videos. It seems the campaign is betting the Never Trump constituency will outweigh their bet on a candidate about nothing.

RELATED: Kamala Harris Still Has No Policies on Website After Democratic Convention (Breitbart)