Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher said on NBC News Sunday that Vice President Kamala Harris should continue to avoid sit-down interviews with the press and instead focus on “talking to the voters.”
Since becoming the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Harris has not sat down for an in-depth media interview. With her upcoming debate against former President Donald Trump being one of her first major non-scripted events, Belcher pushed back on PBS’s Amna Nawaz after she advocated for Harris to answer questions from the press. (RELATED: Trump Hammered Voters’ Key Concerns In RNC Speech, Harris Hardly Mentioned Them)
“Look, Harris has proven herself to be a skillful debater in the past. In the Democratic Primary process, remember, she had that one line that ended up on t-shirts when she was talking about busing to desegregate and Biden’s opposition to that and saying, ‘I was that little girl,'” Nawaz said.
“Candidates don’t need us as journalists to get their message out … but interviews are where candidates face rigor and skepticism and questions about issues that they’re not raising on the campaign trail and in monologue,” Nawaz continued. “It opens it up to a conversation in a way that’s good for voters and good for democracy. I will just say having been with Vice President Harris in unscripted scenarios there’s policy command there that can come out in these kind of interviews.”
Belcher then interjected to dismiss Nawaz’s statement, saying Harris needs to focus on campaign groundwork across the country.
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“Can I say that I love you, and I love you, but as a campaign hack, no. She should be talking to the voters and barnstorming the way they do,” Belcher said. “Again, I say, I love you all, but I don’t want her talking to you all right now, she should be talking to [registered] voters and going across the country.”
Harris’ campaign spokespeople have currently been the only ones who have sat for media interviews, raising questions about her refusal to speak unscripted and her campaign’s failure to publish an official policy platform on their website.
The first debate between Harris and Trump is set for Sept. 10, airing on ABC News. Since the event was originally scheduled with Biden as the nominee, Trump has challenged Harris to two additional debates.
In addition to Sept. 10, Trump proposed debates on Sept. 4 on Fox News and Sept. 25 on NBC News. The vice president has yet to confirm any dates beyond Sept. 10.
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