There has been a calculated press avoidance strategy for Vice President Kamala Harris ever since party leaders, the Obama machine, and megadonors forced President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race in July and endorse her in his place.
Even her handlers, I should note, are avoiding the press:
While the tactic has rightly raised eyebrows and concerns among conservative writers and independent journalists, the mainstream media doesn’t seem too hot and bothered by it with some, including several CNN anchors, openly suggesting during this week’s Democrat National Convention in Chicago that perhaps Harris should continue the basement strategy through the November election because in their view it seems to be working so well for her:
One would think that now that Harris is officially the Democrat nominee after this week’s convention the media would finally turn up the heat and start doing their jobs. But that was not to be, as evidenced by what NBC News senior White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell asked Harris after her Thursday night speech.
O’Donnell, who previously served as the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, was waiting backstage at the United Center when Harris and her entourage, which included Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, her vice presidential running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, and his wife, Gwen, walked by on their way out of the arena.
As Harris headed in her direction, O’Donnell had a prime opportunity to ask her a hard-hitting question or two, since this is apparently the only way reporters get to pose questions to the veep these days. And to be fair, there was no guarantee she would get an answer considering the source.
It was worth a try, though. But instead of asking Kamala Harris anything about claims made in her speech, her policy positions, and other important issues, O’Donnell simply asked Harris how she was feeling.
“Madam Vice President, how do you feel tonight? Congratulations to you,” O’Donnell said, repeating her congratulations to the Walz family as well.
Watch:
As one can see from the clip, Harris was clearly open to talking, as evidenced by her short chat with O’Donnell’s colleague, Peter Alexander – who also didn’t ask any tough questions. But O’Donnell simply chose to treat the moment as a celebratory one rather than one where she, as a journalist, asks probing questions to a public official in the name of accountability.
The Twitter/X machine was not kind to O’Donnell in the aftermath:
I wouldn’t put it past them!
The incident reminded me of another embarrassing moment in journalism from 2019 when Harris—who was then a presidential candidate was in South Carolina, and several female reporters were making fashion recommendations and gushing over a rainbow-colored sequin jacket Harris was trying on:
They are just as shameless now as they were then, and completely hopeless. I mean I wouldn’t be shocked if one of them on down the road asked her what her favorite fruit smoothie flavor is, because that’s about where we’re headed at this point.
It’s incredibly pathetic, but it’s just who they are.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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