'Cut Her A Little Bit Of Slack': Dem Senator Excuses Harris' Media Dodging, Says She's Done Multiple Interviews In The Past

On Thursday, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) joined "CNN News Central" to discuss the recent attacks from the Trump-Vance campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris for failing to answer questions or hold an interview with members of the media after the Republican nominee held a wide-ranging 72-minute press conference at Mar-a-Lago. Padilla attempted to excuse Harris' media absence by claiming that she's done tons of interviews over the years as vice president and that she has been extremely busy since taking over the Democratic ticket more than two weeks ago.

The Trump campaign has made it a priority to pressure Harris to do an interview or take questions from the press, given her track record with unscripted interactions. "President Trump has been answering questions from the media for over an hour... WHERE'S KAMALA?" Trump's campaign account wrote on X on Thursday.  Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance (R-OH) voiced a similar message: "President Trump is taking questions from reporters as Kamala Harris hides behind a teleprompter. It's been 18 days since she answered real questions from the media."

In response to the attacks from the Trump-Vance campaign, Sen. Padilla attempted to argue that Harris has been too busy to sit down for an interview with the media. "They can't run on their record, they can't run on a vision for the future, they can't run on hope, optimism for the American people," Padilla said about the Trump-Vance campaign. "So, this is what they're left with. Vice President Harris has not just done interview after interview over the years. She's been doing the job of Vice President for more than three-and-a-half years, a tremendous chapter in her career after having been a district attorney in San Francisco, after having been attorney general for the state of California, after having served in the United States Senate, longer than Sen. JD Vance has even been in office."

"So, let's be clear as to where the experience and the maturity [lie]. And she'll continue to do more interviews. You've got to cut her a little bit of slack for the last three-and-a-half weeks, an unprecedented way to become the nominee for the Democratic Party," the California Democrat continued. "She's assembled the delegates to become the presumptive nominee. She has quickly vetted and selected a tremendous running mate in Gov. Walz, we're preparing for the Democratic Convention in Chicago, and she's stumping. She's doing the day job and stumping in all the critical battleground states. So, we'll get to the media interviews soon enough."

Following the pressure campaign from the GOP, Harris did take some questions before boarding Air Force Two for an event in Arizona. The vice president revealed that she would like to sit down for an interview by the end of the month. "I've talked to my team. I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month," she said.

WATCH:

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) suggests to 'cut' Kamala Harris 'a little bit of slack' as she is too busy for interviews

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