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Vice President Kamala Harris, who has given just one pre-taped, 18-minute interview since becoming the de facto Democratic presidential nominee in July, plans to ramp up her media presence with a series of local and national interviews in the coming weeks, according to a campaign memo obtained by The New York Times.
While Harris has largely avoided sit-down interviews and press conferences for the past 50 days, her campaign appears to be shifting strategies after Tuesday night’s presidential debate. Although several media outlets declared Harris the winner based on polls and focus groups, others, including Reuters and The Times, found pro-Trump results.
Additionally, many polls and focus groups of undecided voters and independents showed favorable outcomes for Trump, with both key demographics preferring his responses on issues like the economy and illegal immigration.
According to the memo, Harris plans to participate in several interviews with local news stations in key battleground states, as well as with national outlets, as the election campaign enters its final phase.
The vice president is also scheduled to be interviewed by the National Association of Black Journalists as early as next week, the memo revealed, though only Trump showed up to the group’s annual meeting earlier this summer.
“While Ms. Harris’s top aides are thrilled with her debate showing and Mr. Trump’s inability to push consistent and coherent attacks, they are looking to tweak their strategy only around the edges,” The Times reported.
“The next steps, close advisers say, are ramping up her visibility on the campaign trail, including retail politicking in communities, increased press appearances, and putting herself in front of as many voters as possible in battleground states. Aides believe that at its heart, the race is unchanged,” the outlet noted further.
Harris’ camp is also pushing for a second debate against Trump, but he appears to have already quashed that effort. Trump was initially noncommittal, but by Thursday afternoon, he had fully rejected the idea of a second debate, Fox News noted.
“When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. “Polls clearly show that I won the Debate against Comrade Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ Radical Left Candidate, on Tuesday night, and she immediately called for a Second Debate.”
Trump went on to say that Harris and “Crooked Joe” Biden have “destroyed our country, with millions of criminals and mentally deranged people pouring into the USA, totally unchecked and unvetted, and with Inflation bankrupting our Middle Class.”
“Everyone knows this, and all of the other problems caused by Kamala and Joe — it was discussed in great detail during the First Debate with Joe, and the Second Debate with Comrade Harris,” Trump added.
“Everyone knows this, and all of the other problems caused by Kamala and Joe — it was discussed in great detail during the First Debate with Joe, and the Second Debate with Comrade Harris,” Trump added.
Trump took part in a town hall on Fox News on September 4, following an invitation from the network for both the former president and Harris to debate. “She was a no-show at the Fox Debate, and refused to do NBC & CBS,” Trump continued. “Kamala should focus on what she should have done during the last almost four year period.” He added in all caps: “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”
Harris said Thursday afternoon at a rally in Charlotte, N.C. that she believes “we owe it to the voters to have another debate.”
Trump and Harris clashed in a heated debate Tuesday night, exchanging blows on issues like abortion, immigration, Israel, and the economy. However, Trump also found himself at odds with the ABC News moderators, who frequently challenged and “fact-checked” him while allowing Harris’s questionable statements to go unchallenged.