Harris’ Campaign LACK ABILITY To Make Huge Decision On First Official Interviewer

Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign is weighing who will be the first journalist to sit down with her now that she’s officially on the Democratic ticket, a new report claims.

Harris noted earlier this month she wants to make her interview before the end of August, a timing that rolls off from just four days. 

“Harris campaign staff have been asking reporters who they think she should talk to,” POLITICO reported. “Behind the scenes, TV producers from big name anchors have been calling the campaign to pitch their talent as the person she has to do it with.”

It’s not clear who in the Harris campaign will make that final determination. The likely person to arrange the interview would be Brian Fallon, senior adviser for communications—although coordinating with Harris’ vice presidential office also led by Kirsten Allen.

A POLITICO source said as many as five other individuals weigh in on the final decision- making. 

“Another source with knowledge of the process said that Stephanie Cutter, senior adviser for message and strategy, will have an outsized role, as well,” POLITICO reported. “Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and senior advisor David Plouffe represent another camp. And Maya Harris and Tony West, Harris’s sister and brother-in-law, will weigh in with their own views. The political operatives on this list all have long-term relationships with TV networks and their major talent. But unlike Biden, Harris herself doesn’t have the same deep history with the journalists now wooing her.”

Topping the list are experienced political operatives with strong ties to TV networks and their biggest talent. However, “Harris since last April hasn’t had those decades of muscle memory with the journalists she now has done rounding up for her,” unlike Biden.

“Almost everyone we talked to said Harris will consider race and gender in making her choice, and that she would be keen to sit down with a Black and/or female reporter, though nobody believes that’s a requirement,” the outlet said.

President Joe Biden during the 2020 vice presidential search said he wanted to name a Black woman — and, in Harris, did. Harris also seems to be taking a more aggressive vetting policy with regard to her first official interview as the Democratic nominee.