Democrats are warning Vice President Kamala Harris that she needs to ramp up her engagement with voters and the media or it could cost her the election.
Harris is neck-and-neck with former President Trump in the 2024 race, according to national polls. While Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, have stepped up their interviews in recent weeks, she has also faced criticism from media critics for being evasive, even in interviews with friendly liberal outlets like MSNBC.
“Ms. Harris responded to the fairly basic and predictable questions with roundabout responses that did not provide a substantive answer,” The New York Times reported after Harris’ interview with MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle last month.
According to a Friday report from NBC News, some Democrats are worried the Harris campaign’s media strategy won’t help win over undecided voters who have yet to warm up to the Democratic presidential candidate.
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“They’re trying to keep her away,” Steve Shurtleff, former Democratic speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, told NBC News of the Harris campaign. “It’s like seeing your favorite Hollywood actor, and then they’re on a talk show and they can’t even speak.”
“The President of the United States has to be able to be on their toes all the time and answer questions,” he continued. “It’s so obvious she’s been avoiding the one-on-one interviews, and the voters deserve better.”
Other Democrats in the report said that the Harris campaign’s approach of avoiding the media was a risky strategy in such a tight race.
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“The campaign is taking a chance that they can run out the clock and Trump’s weaknesses will be enough to win,” Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist, told NBC. “But the danger in that is if you don’t define your own candidacy well enough, people will start defining it themselves.”
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“It’s been a mistake to shield Walz and Harris from interviews,” a Democratic lawmaker also told NBC. “It’s like playing basketball — if you don’t play for weeks, you’re not going to get it into a game and do well. You’ve got to be on the court…I would have them out there very extensively.”
Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement to NBC, “Our task for the final stretch of this campaign is ensuring that [Harris’] winning vision reaches the undecided voters who will decide this election in places and ways that will actually reach them. That may look different in today’s evolving media environment than prior campaigns, but coupled with campaign events, aggressive organizing and a historic paid media campaign, it’s a winning approach.”
It’s uncertain if this strategy will convince undecided voters to support Harris.
According to the latest Fox News poll of voters in Pennsylvania, Harris retains a narrow edge over Trump among registered voters and the race is tied among likely voters in the battleground state.
Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
