Vice President Kamala Harris’ senior advisor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, gave a lame excuse for why the Democratic presidential candidate rarely gives interviews or speaks with the press.
“She’s too busy” to do media interviews, Bottoms claimed.
CNN’s Jake Tapper grilled the former Atlanta mayor, who wanted to know why Harris isn’t "sitting down for regular interviews or fielding questions from the press” compared to former President Donald Trump, who is in front of the cameras nearly daily.
Bottoms defended Harris, saying that she has “done interviews” but that she is the “vice president as well as a candidate,” so she’s “busy.”
You can't make this up.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 20, 2024
Jake Tapper asked Kamala Senior Adviser and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms why Kamala isn't doing more interviews.
Her response: "She's a very busy person."pic.twitter.com/Cn1bAjw1FZ
However, for being so “busy,” people questioned why First Lady Jill Biden took the reigns in a Cabinet meeting this week for President Joe Biden while Harris was MIA.
In the past month, Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) have conducted a total of 15 interviews. On the other hand, Trump and GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) have undertaken a total of 55. She has not held a formal press conference since becoming the Democratic nominee.
The senior advisor continued to defend Harris’ absence from interviews despite Americans' lack of knowledge about her and her policies.
“And we heard her today talk about her views on these policies," Bottoms said. "It may not be in the format that the media would like. It may not be that she’s sitting down doing a one-on-one interview, but we heard her today in Georgia talk about her stance on reproductive freedom and, if she's elected as president of the United States, how she would use the power of the pen to make sure that these freedoms are protected.”
Harris has campaigned like Biden, who hid the entire election cycle from the media. However, outlets, including the left-leaning ones, have pointed out that Harris’s lack of media presence will harm her chances with voters.
Axios recently published a report titled “The Harris-Walz media strategy: Hide from the press.” Meanwhile, Trump suggested that Harris was "not smart enough" to hold a press conference.