‘Anxious’ Kamala Harris on Track to Get Fewest Interviews of Any Candidate, and Even Democrats Are Nervous

Kamala Harris gives the press – and Americans – the silent treatment.

The vice president is on track to give the fewest interviews of any major-party presidential candidate — and it’s not just because she entered the race historically late.

Since President Biden ended his reelection campaign on July 21, his 59-year-old number two has given just six interviews, leaving allies and critics alike wanting more.

Harris has chosen her moments carefully, opting for relatively convivial settings such as an August 29 interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, where she was accompanied by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. She has also given interviews to Philadelphia’s ABC station, to Spanish-language radio host Chiquibaby and to a panel at a meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).

By comparison, former President Donald Trump has given at least three times as many interviews over the same period, some of them lasting at least an hour — like his recent one-on-one with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk about X Spaces. Meanwhile, vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) has become a regular guest on network television’s Sunday morning public affairs shows.

Although Harris has been infrequent in public, she has not managed to avoid the awkward moments and “word salad” for which her critics have so regularly mocked her.

In the CNN interview, Harris responded to Bash’s first question — asking her to explain the many apparent policy reversals since her failed 2020 White House bid — by insisting that “my values ​​have not changed,” giving the Trump campaign a new opening to attack her.

Asked about the NABJ committee’s support for reparations for slavery, she said: “We have to tell the truth about the generational impact of our history, in terms of the generational impact of slavery, the generational impact of redlining, the generational impact of Jim Crow laws. I could go on and on. These are facts that have an impact, and we have to tell the truth about them. And we have to tell the truth about them in a way that allows for solutions.”

“As Americans, we have a beautiful character,” she told ABC Action News 6 anchor Brian Taff in Philadelphia last week after he asked her how she plans to lower prices. “We have ambitions and aspirations and dreams. But not everyone necessarily has access to the resources that can help fuel those dreams and ambitions.”

Those moments would be enough to make any campaign want its candidate to show less of his face, but psychiatrist and body language expert Carole Lieberman told the Post she suspects there’s a deeper problem: Harris is “anxious” when questioned.

“The Harris campaign may not fully understand the psychological roots of why she is so anxious about not being ‘found,’ but they see the symptoms and understand that the less you see them, the better,” said Lieberman, who has not treated Harris and acknowledged to the Post that she plans to vote for Trump in November.

“If I had to give her advice, I would tell her to advertise less, unless it’s in situations where she could be more sure that they would like her.”

The Trump campaign and its allies have argued that the reason for Harris’ silence is that she and Walz are hiding their true agenda behind a smokescreen constructed by left-wing media.

But it’s not just Republicans and Trump supporters who are denouncing the vice president’s low profile.

“I think she should be more involved in local media – and do two or three (interviews) at each stop,” said a Democratic official close to the Harris campaign.

“The information broadcast by the news networks reaches voters in key states much more than the information broadcast by the news networks. These are the voters who will decide the outcome of the election.”

Lieberman agreed, noting that “focusing on local news media in key states is a safer bet because it would be less anxious and the campaign could more easily hide or distract from a potential misstep on a smaller platform than on a national platform.”

The Democratic source said that “maybe her strategy is working” — noting that Harris is still doing relatively well in national polls and in key states — but questioned how long that would last.

“Without additional big moments, I don’t see how we can maintain the excitement without interviews and influencer engagement on social media,” the agent said.

“In politics, you have to know when to fight and when to dance,” another Democratic source told the Post. “Harris should sit down with the New York Post and show the American people she can do both.”

Harris’ campaign had said it was on track to reach voters “not through the traditional means that people have used in the past,” campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon told Axios last month.

O’Malley Dillon added that the campaign would focus on reaching out to voters by meeting them on the ground and having proxies and influencers spread the word on Harris’ behalf.

But observers wonder what she has to hide.

Lieberman suggested that Harris suffered from “imposter syndrome” — doubting her own qualifications to be a presidential heartthrob.

“Her giggles, grimaces and big hand movements are a reflection of that anxiety,” she added, noting that “Kamala was able to stifle her giggles” during her September 10 debate with Trump — but “made up for it with bigger grimaces.”

Although Harris has almost never given formal interviews, she often speaks privately with reporters for about five minutes in the back of Air Force Two during her travels — answering questions on a range of topics but not allowing her remarks to be printed.

The informal question-and-answer sessions are meant to improve Harris’ relationship with the press and steer coverage in a more favorable direction — and began before she replaced Biden as the Democratic frontrunner.

The outgoing president made similar faces aboard Air Force Two while serving as Barack Obama’s vice president.

Harris campaign spokesman Ian Sams told the Post after the report was published that the vice president would continue her schedule of “extensive” media appearances.

“Voters are consuming information from more sources than ever before, and Vice President Harris and Governor Walz understand that. That’s why they’re hosting a series of interviews with the media — yes, traditional television or face-to-face interviews like cable news networks, which Harris and Walz did, or the live TV panel this week with the National Association of Black Journalists, as well as interviews with the local stations that voters in key states often trust most for their news when they tune in each night at 6 and 11 p.m., diverse radio stations and digital outlets that reach voters from different backgrounds, and digital platforms and creators that ask questions that interest and inform broad audiences across the country and around the world,” Sams said in a statement.

“In each of these settings, they answer often difficult questions about the important issues facing Americans in this election and share their perspectives and vision. They will continue this broad range of media engagements throughout the campaign.”