Welcome to the online version of From the policy deskevening bulletin that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill from the NBC News Politics team.
In today’s edition, we look at how Kamala Harris’ media strategy has (and hasn’t) changed since the debate. Plus, senior political reporter Jonathan Allen writes that Donald Trump’s actions show how he feels the debate is really going.
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Harris is slowly opening the door for more media interviews
Alex Seitz-Wald, Peter Nicholas and Natasha Korecki
Fresh off a debate they thought went well for her, Vice President Kamala Harris’s aides are slowly opening up more of her contact with the media amid growing concern among allies that she needs to be more accessible — but they have no plans to change dramatically. their strategy.
The campaign said Harris plans to do more interviews with media in the war zones and to speak more with the traveling press corps in the coming days. He will also answer questions from members of the National Association of Black Journalists, with whom former President Donald Trump is sitting. controversial interview this summer.
So far, Harris has done just one national television interview since taking over President Joe Biden’s spot at the top of the Democratic ticket — Joint appearance on CNN With Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. He also recently did two national radio interviews — with Univision and syndicated morning show host Rickey Smiley — and had several conversations with traveling reporters.
His campaign’s media strategy has largely been a continuation of Biden’s, which is to minimize interaction with the media. It’s an approach that maximizes control but avoids the risk of limiting public access and opening it up to criticism that it has something to hide or that it can’t handle unscripted questions.
Questionnaires and focus groups shows that while many voters believe Harris has the edge over Trump in Tuesday night’s debate in Philadelphia, undecided voters still need to know more about him to support him. That lack of praise — and the possibility that the campaign could still shake it up a bit — provided a silver lining for Trump allies frustrated that the former president missed a moment for a clear debate victory.
By the numbers: Trump is hardly an ideal candidate for a journalism scholar, given frequent interviews with conservative media, taking questions from mainstream sources and a penchant for calling reporters directly and speaking without reservation.
Since Biden withdrew from the race in late July, Trump has made at least 18 media appearances, most of them with conservative outlets, in addition to events such as six press conferences where he answered questions from reporters, according to NBC News.
JD Vance, meanwhile, did at least 44 interviews with television or print outlets, at least 12 formal question-and-answer sessions or press conferences, and at least 13 press slams (shorter, informal chances for reporters to ask questions). to an NBC News report.
In contrast, in addition to the joint CNN interview with Harris, Walz did only two national television interviews, both after the debate (with ABC News and MSNBC), a handful of radio interviews, and avoided answering reporters’ questions on the record. .
Trump says he won the debate, but his actions suggest otherwise
By Jonathan Allen
Donald Trump has a funny way of showing he thinks he’s winning Tuesday’s debate — so weird that he means the exact opposite.
After he and Kamala Harris left the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia after their first meeting, Trump and his allies lashed out at ABC’s debate moderators, accused Harris of wearing a transmitter disguised as an earring and criticized the national media for its coverage of the event. .
Immediately after the debate, Trump held a large, special press conference in the “spin” room surrounded by hundreds of journalists who formed a ring around him.
The simple rules of postgame sports commentary often apply to politics: You don’t need to spin when you win. You don’t blame the judges when you win. And when you win, you don’t have to accuse your opponent of trying to cheat.
“Trump’s post-debate behavior is a continuation of his baffling debate performance — sloppy, disorganized and at times apathetic,” said Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett. “He’s not going after Kamala Harris or paying attention to the actual political issue. He seems to be focusing on online conspiracy theories or fighting Fox News. It’s not what you do after you win a debate, and it’s not what you do if you want to win an election.”
Harris, who has spent much of her energy on the debate stage trying to get under Trump’s skin, probably still has work to do to convince voters who feel she doesn’t know enough about his plans. Trump seems determined not to let her do that in their rematch.
“KAMALA SHOULD DO WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS” Trump Truth wrote about this on the social media platform on Thursday. “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”
He has been known to change his mind, and he may still do so. But what he can’t change and what is clear from his behavior is that he had a bad night.
🗞️ The best stories of the day
- 💻 Too online: David Ingram writes that Trump embraced a series of conspiracy theories on the debate stage that might seem incomprehensible without a deep understanding of the dark corners of far-right social media. More →
- 🏛️ Result: Springfield, Ohio, the city at the center of a culture war over denied claims involving Haitian migrants, was forced to lock down its city hall Thursday after receiving a bomb threat. More →
- 🛡️ Planning ahead: The counting and verification of election votes at the U.S. Capitol in January — for the first time since the January 6, 2021 riots — will be under significantly increased security, the Secret Service said. More →
- ⚖️ Latest Legal: A judge in the Georgia election meddling case dismissed two of the charges against Trump. More →
- 👀 Closing time: Vance suggested that threatening a government shutdown ahead of the upcoming funding deadline could be in Republicans’ best interests, asking, “If it’s not a government that works, why have a government?” More →
- 💰 Cash Dash: Former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are expected to hold separate fundraisers for Harris next Friday in Los Angeles. More →
- 🌥️ Sunset: Florida, once the nation’s biggest swing state, is an afterthought in this year’s presidential race. More →
- ⚖️ In the States: A state judge has struck down North Dakota’s abortion ban — one of the strictest in the nation — saying the state constitution creates a “fundamental right” to access an abortion without fetal viability. More →
- 🎤 Swift effect: In the 24 hours after Taylor Swift announced her endorsement of Harris on Instagram, 405,999 people visited Vote.gov through a special URL the pop superstar shared in a post encouraging her followers to register to vote. More →
That’s all for the Policy Desk for now. If you have feedback – like it or not – send us an email politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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