President Joe Biden is sitting down for a key interview with CBS News in the presence of Vice President Kamala Harris, who has not made any media appearances since launching his presidential campaign.
The White House announced Wednesday that the president will film an interview with Bob Costa for CBS Sunday Morning, set to air on Aug. 11. It will be Biden's first in-person interview since he dropped out of the presidential race. Harris, whom the president endorsed when he dropped out of the race, has been holding rallies and fundraisers around the country but has not held a press conference or interview since becoming the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. (Related article: The Trump campaign's simple plan to destroy Kamala Harris: Take her off script)
Per puller FollowVice President Harris held a “private conversation with a reporter for approximately four minutes” aboard Air Force Two, one of several such conversations she has had over the past two weeks.
But Harris has yet to give a sit-down interview on the record since launching her campaign.
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) August 6, 2024
After informing the nation that he was withdrawing from the presidential race through a letter posted on social media, the president spoke in the Oval Office to explain the reasons for his decision. The 81-year-old president did not mention his health, but instead said he was stepping down in the interest of “unity” and that it was time to “pass the baton.”
In an attempt to save his campaign, the president has rushed to give interviews to the media to prove his fitness to be president. Biden, who traditionally shuns media appearances, gave two television interviews to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos and NBC News' Lester Holt, and also held his first solo press conference of the year.
US President Joe Biden (L) and US Vice President Kamala Harris wave after watching the Independence Day fireworks display from the Truman Balcony of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 4, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP) (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Semaphore said Harris has historically been more forthcoming with the media than Biden, but her media strategy began to shift after she acknowledged in a direct interview with Holt in 2021 that she had not yet visited the southern border. The outlet reported that Harris refrained from media appearances in the aftermath of Holt's video, which has continued to circulate and become a topic of conversation for years.
More than two weeks into her campaign, Harris' campaign has not released a platform on its website, instead promoting her and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat.
“She is now running for President of the United States to protect our freedoms, achieve justice and continue to expand opportunity so all Americans can thrive, not just survive,” the website reads.
