Harris Campaign Adviser Claims ‘Only’ Press And ‘Insiders’ Care About Vice President Not Doing Interviews

Harris-Walz campaign senior adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms on Tuesday dismissed Vice President Kamala Harris’ avoidance of interviews as something that only matters to the press and “insiders.”

Harris has not held a sit-down interview or press conference since she launched her presidential campaign on July 21. Bottoms, on “CNN Newsroom With Jim Acosta,” said that none of the people she has spoken to on the campaign trail have raised concerns about the vice president not sitting down for an interview. 

“I believe this is only an insider conversation. Obviously, those in the media may want to see her doing the interview, and insiders are talking about her sitting down to do an interview. But I can tell you, in the hundreds of people that I’ve talked to about this campaign, not one person has mentioned having a care about whether or not she sits down to do an interview, and I do believe that will happen in due time,” Bottoms said. “But what we have seen from Kamala Harris, what we saw during the convention last week was someone who’s very much in command, someone who is ready to lead, someone who’s been leading.”

Harris-Walz campaign communications director Michael Tyler asserted on Aug. 14 that the vice president would commit to a sit-down interview by the end of August. Democratic strategist James Carville told Republican strategist Lance Trover on Monday that it is ludicrous to demand Harris sit down for interviews at this stage of her campaign.

“Where is it written that in the first five weeks of the campaign, you have to do a long-form interview? That’s just a made-up thing,” Carville said. “That’s absurd. She’s been quite busy and has done quite well. And she’s got more things to do than sit around and wait around and do a long-form interview, of which after you do it, the press is going to forget about it anyway.”

Former Bill Clinton adviser Mark Penn said on Monday that Harris evading the press is undemocratic because it causes voters to be uninformed.

“In my book, there should be three presidential debates, not one. There should be position papers, not a donate page on your website,” Penn said. “And you should be before the press every two or three days because if voters are not informed, then it’s not a democracy with real votes.”