MSNBC host Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Saturday that the media is “whining” that presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris won’t talk to them.
Harris has yet to formally sit down and address the press 20 days after Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed her on July 21. Her opponent, 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, held a 72-minute-long news conference Thursday afternoon.
Steele suggested Harris’ avoidance of the media is a strategy as a result of favorable polling.
“I want to shift gears on that a little bit, because I really — it would have struck me since Donald Trump’s press conference is the, sort of highbrow nature of the press coming at Kamala Harris, saying what she, in my view, whining that she doesn’t talk to us, she hasn’t done a sit down with us, she hasn’t done interviews with us,” Steele said.
“I watched that press conference and I go, well, you start actually asking real questions of Donald Trump and pressing him then that sort of creates a space of balance,” he continued. “But then I look at polling.”
The New York Times SIENA college poll Steele cited shows Harris up by four points in three key battleground states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. (RELATED: ‘What Are They Hiding?’: CNN Panelists Call For Kamala Harris To Face The Media, Answer Voters’ Questions)
“You have the New York Times Siena poll showing Harris in battleground states, Michigan she is up by four, Pennsylvania up by four 50-46, and Wisconsin up by four, 50-46 all within the margin of error, so, at one point you say strategically, ‘Why do I need to talk to you right now?’” Steele said.
