Chuck Todd Warns Kamala Harris Against Delaying Media Engagements in Presidential Campaign
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While Vice President Kamala Harris has been enjoying a wave of popularity, NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd cautioned her against making a critical mistake that could harm her presidential campaign. According to Todd, Harris took too long to give her first official interview after receiving the Democratic nomination, which he believes may hurt her image.
Speaking on NBC News Now, Todd emphasized the importance of Harris engaging with the media earlier and more frequently. “I think the easiest way to diffuse this is to go everywhere… doing local interviews, doing a podcast here, she can go to friendly places, go to unfriendly places,” Todd said. He added that when candidates limit their media appearances, the spotlight is overly focused on the few interviews they do give, leading to more scrutiny. “If there are six interviews, we’re all overwhelmed… Everything gets diluted.”
Todd suggested that Harris’ cautious approach to the media could reinforce a negative stereotype. “It only sort of reinforces this negative stereotype that she’s a little—takes too long. There’s a fine line between being deliberative and being paralyzed by a decision,” he said, adding that this reluctance to engage with the press might be seen as a misstep as per Fox News.
Harris had faced criticism for avoiding journalists in the weeks following her nomination. After President Joe Biden stepped aside from his re-election bid, Harris was slow to appear in unscripted settings or engage with the press. It wasn’t until August 29, 2024, that she sat down for her first formal interview with CNN after securing the Democratic nomination.
When asked about the delay, Harris explained that she wanted to get through the Democratic National Convention (DNC) before scheduling media interviews. According to The New York Times, she responded, “I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month,” but her aides quickly ended the Q&A session before more questions could be asked.
Todd compared Harris’ media approach to that of her Republican rival, Donald Trump, during his 2016 campaign. “The 2016 version [of Trump] did interviews all over the place. Left, right, and center, friendly interviews, adversarial interviews… What he successfully did is he never made one interview matter,” Todd said.
He warned that Harris’ selective approach could play into perceptions of her weakness, adding, “Any fumble now is going to get overly scrutinized, unnecessarily so.” So far, Harris has only participated in one joint interview with her running mate, Tim Walz, conducted by CNN’s Dana Bash since her nomination.
