Democratic strategist James Carville told Republican strategist Lance Trover on Monday that it is ridiculous to pressure Vice President Kamala Harris to conduct interviews with the press at this point in her campaign.
Harris has not conducted a sit-down interview nor held a press conference since launching her presidential campaign on July 21. Carville, on NewsNation’s “CUOMO” told Trover that Harris has been preoccupied with other matters and that there’s no requirement for presidential candidates to do interviews toward the beginning of their campaigns. (RELATED: ‘Kamala Was In On It’: Trump-Aligned PAC Drops Anti-Kamala Harris Ad Less Than Two Hours After Biden Quit)
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‘Come On, Man’: James Carville Tells GOP Strategist It’s ‘Absurd’ To Demand Harris Do Interviews pic.twitter.com/OnX68JtClW
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“James, you would agree it is their strategy to not do interviews, for her to do as little interaction with the press as possible, right?” Trover asked.
“Come on, man. July the 21st, in that time, she had to put a convention together. She had to pick a vice president. They had to put a campaign together. They had to merge two campaigns together. 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 responded. “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.”
Trover clarified it’s important for Harris to do interviews so that voters understand where the vice president “stands on the issues” rather than “pleasing the press.”
“You heard her speak. She thinks that inflation is caused partly by price rigging. She thinks you ought to raise taxes on incomes over $400,000 a year and have a first-time home buyers relief fund,” Carville said. “There are ways that you can get out what your stand on the issues is without having a long-form journalistic yap trap.”
Harris’ campaign website still does not detail any policies as of Tuesday.
“In fairness, she has run for president before and her aides and unnamed sources have walked back almost every position that she took in 2020. Don’t you think it’s right for her to … stand up and take some questions and just answer it?,” Trover asked.
“She’s been a candidate for five weeks. Don’t get ahead of yourself, man. They got plenty of time,” Carville answered.
Harris championed a number of left-wing policies during her 2020 presidential campaign, such as a fracking ban, mandatory federal gun buybacks and the abolition of private health insurance, but the vice president has backtracked on some of her positions since launching her 2024 campaign.
Former Bill Clinton adviser Mark Penn on Monday said that Harris sidestepping the press is undemocratic as it contributes to an uninformed electorate.
“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.”
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