Harris and Walz set record as candidates with fewest interviews in US political history

The Democratic presidential ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz appears to have discovered a new way to campaign: playing hide-and-seek with the press. Both Democratic candidates have granted only seven interviews, a ridiculous figure compared to their Republican rivals Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, who have done more than 10 times that number in the same period.

According to Axios, the Harris campaign is deliberately limiting interactions with reporters in an effort to protect the vice president and avoid potentially damaging encounters just weeks before the election. But this strategy could play into their hands, given that they are earning a reputation as the candidates giving the fewest interviews of any presidential candidate in U.S. history, according to Axios analysts. This analysis separates interviews conducted by "partisan media" and avoids counting such appearances. Thus, the outlet excluded Republican conversations with Fox News, Newsmax, The New York Post and Walz's MSNBC interview.

The case of Kamala Harris has been especially criticized, given that she has granted just three interviews to non-partisan media. It should be noted that the vice president has been campaigning since July. Harris did her first interview almost two months after joining the presidential race. In contrast, her running mate, the governor of Minnesota, has been on the campaign trail for less time, although he has still only done just four interviews.

On the other side of the electoral ring, the Republican ticket, consisting of Trump and Vance, has granted 73 interviews, most of which were conducted by the Ohio senator, while Trump has faced the media 14 times.

Harris is expected to change her tactics in the coming weeks, as she is being criticized by media outlets that until recently were very favorable to her. For example, The New York Times, in a recently published column by analyst Todd S. Purdum, criticized Harris for recycling the content of her speeches in her responses and added that the vice president cannot afford to give rehearsed answers that might not persuade voters.