Vice President Kamala Harris has continued to avoid answering questions from reporters after delivering scripted remarks, a strategy that has raised concerns among Democrats who fear it may allow Republicans to define her as a radical Democrat who flip-flops on policies. The pattern continued Thursday after she made a brief scripted statement about the U.S./Russian prisoner swap.
Avoiding questions from the media appears to be Harris’s strategy, with Democrats admitting that this approach allows her to get attention without needing high-profile interviews or press conferences. The vice president is showing all of us that you don’t need to do high-profile interviews or press conferences in order to get attention from the media or from voters,” said Democrat strategist Christy Setzer.
However, Harris’s lack of media accessibility suggests she is worried about answering questions about her radical record, and may be considering running a similar campaign to President Joe Biden, who seldomly held solo press conferences and rarely sat for live interviews. If this continues, Republicans could quickly define her as a radical Democrat who flip-flops on policies.
When Harris does engage the media with an unscripted serious interview, Republicans will be looking to underscore any gaffe or word salad she may deliver. She has already committed two such gaffes in recent days: accidentally calling herself “president” during former Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s eulogy and delivering a word salad during an unscripted comment about a hostage deal with Russia.
Despite these concerns, it is clear that the Vice President is using her media strategy to avoid putting her foot in her mouth and giving Republicans ammunition to define her negatively. As the 2024 election cycle heats up, it remains to be seen whether Harris’s approach will pay off or if she will need to change tactics in order to better connect with voters.