Former President Donald Trump on Thursday mocked Vice President Kamala Harris’s apparent strategy of avoiding unscripted interviews as the Democrat nominee.
Harris has not given one interview or press conference since she joined the presidential race 18 days ago and may continue to avoid the press until Labor Day, 25 days away, a longtime Harris ally told Politico’s West Wing Playbook on Wednesday.
When was the last time Kamala Harris held a solo press conference? Nov. 12, 2021 in France?
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) August 8, 2024
“Excuse me, what are we doing right now? Trump questioned during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. “She’s not doing any news conference.”
“You know why she’s not doing it? Because she can’t do a news conference,” Trump said. “She doesn’t know how to do a news conference. She’s not smart enough to do a news conference.”
“I’m sorry,” Trump continued. “We need smart people to lead this country because our country has never been in this danger before, both economically and from an outside from an outside perspective.”
NOW – Trump says Kamala Harris is “not smart enough to do a news conference.” pic.twitter.com/rQKVKDZ6zI
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 8, 2024
Harris is starting to face more questions about why she isn’t doing more press, which are only bound to grow louder. Our West Wing Playbook colleagues report that her campaign is thinking about setting up a big joint interview with her and Walz — but they’re generally skeptical that such moments provide much electoral value.
Harris, known for word salads, committed two gaffes in August when speaking off-script. She accidentally called herself “president” during the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s eulogy and delivered a word salad during an unscripted comment about a hostage deal with Russia.
“This is just an extraordinary testament to the importance of having a president who understands the power of diplomacy and understands the strength that rests in understanding the significance of diplomacy…” she rambled.
More Harris word salads are here.
Harris could be avoiding the media out of fear of answering questions about her radical-left policies. Harris already appears to be backpedaling on many policies she previously championed, raising concerns about whether voters can trust her. Neither Harris nor campaign aides have yet to fully embrace the changed policy positions in on-the-record, public statements.
President Trump addresses sanctuary cities in final question of Mar-a-Lago press conference pic.twitter.com/wxNPUn7M0b
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) August 8, 2024
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.