CNN anchor Dana Bash corrected Jeff Zeleny on Monday after he said Trump has only done “friendly interviews” since September 2023.
Vice President Kamala Harris is making media rounds with friendly interviews. Republicans have criticized her for avoiding tougher press. Zeleny on “Inside Politics with Dana Bash” pointed out Republicans might be hypocritical for calling her out, as Trump does the same. However, Bash quickly reminded him that Trump faced a tough interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in July.
“The last tough interview Trump did was with ‘Meet the Press’ in September,” Zeleny said. “Since then, it’s just been friendly Fox interviews and others.”
Bash interjected, saying, “Well, he did NABJ.”
Trump appeared at the NABJ event where ABC News reporter Rachel Scott confronted him with claims of racism. Trump fired back, calling her question “a disgrace.”
“He did,” Zeleny acknowledged. “That was a round table. But before that, the last real interview was ‘Meet The Press.’ Both politicians choose venues where they can get their message out smoothly.”
In addition to Fox News, Trump also did an interview on CNBC in March. Since July 21, when Harris joined the race, Trump had done seven local interviews compared to Harris’ single one by mid-September, according to Axios.
Trump also held three press conferences in the same period, while Harris had none, Axios reported.
Some Democrats, including Harris’ staff, are concerned her lack of media engagement could hurt the campaign. To address this, Harris appeared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast and is set for interviews on “60 Minutes,” “The View,” and more this week.
Harris is leading Trump nationally by 2.1%, but Trump holds a slim 0.1% lead in key battleground states, according to RealClearPolling averages.