Trump to hold presser as he rips Harris for not taking media questions

Former President Trump will hold a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday as he and his campaign seek to pressure Vice President Harris into taking questions from the media.

Trump said he would do a “general news conference” Thursday at 2 p.m. EDT, and he attacked Harris for the lack of interviews she’s done since being elevated to the top of the Democratic ticket following President Biden’s decision not to seek reelection.

“Kamala refuses to do interviews because her team realizes she is unable to answer questions, much like Biden was not able to answer questions, but for different reasons,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “He is just plain ‘shot,’ and she is just plain ‘Incompetent.’”

Trump claimed Harris’s policies would lead to a “1929 Style Great Depression.” He previously claimed the market would crash if Biden won in 2020, something that did not happen.

The former president’s announcement comes as his campaign has sought to turn Harris’s lack of media interviews into an issue as she surges in the polls and draws huge crowds on the campaign trail.

Harris has not taken questions from reporters on the campaign trail on-the-record since Biden announced July 21 that he would not seek reelection and she took over the top of the Democratic ticket. 

The vice president has spoken off-the-record with reporters traveling with her, and she responded to one question while standing next to Biden as Americans who were imprisoned in Russia returned home last week.

Trump did a high-profile onstage interview last week at the National Association of Black Journalists convention. It was a tense interview with journalists from ABC News, Semafor and Fox News, where Trump took tough questions and sparked controversy with attacks on Harris’s Black and Indian heritage.

Trump has done regular interviews, though typically with friendly outlets. He spoke this week with “Fox and Friends” on Fox News and right-wing internet streamer Adin Ross.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), has made Harris’s lack of media engagement a particular point of focus as he’s followed her around battleground states this week. 

Vance has posted daily updates on social media about how long Harris has gone without taking questions, and Wednesday he seized on the issue when their planes were on a tarmac in Wisconsin at the same time.

“Hopefully, it’s going to be my plane in a few months,” Vance told reporters, referring to Air Force Two. “I also thought you guys may get lonely, because the VP doesn’t answer questions from reporters.”