Media allowing Kamala Harris to ‘get away with hiding’ from questions about border crisis, experts say

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Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t held a formal press briefing since taking office, even after President Biden tapped her to lead diplomatic efforts to solve the border crisis, but the mainstream media has been oddly silent and doesn’t appear eager to hear what she thinks about the issues.

While Biden previously faced criticism after waiting until his 64th day in office to hold a formal press briefing, Harris has largely received a pass for staying mum on the border crisis.

"The traditional media thus far has not shown an interest in demanding transparency about the border crisis in general, and is apparently unwilling to challenge Harris even though she has assumed the key role in addressing the situation," DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall told Fox News.

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The White House did not immediately respond when asked if President Biden expects Harris to hold a briefing on the border situation. Harris laughed awkwardly last week when asked if she had plans to visit the border, drawing criticism given the seriousness of the situation.

Vice President Mike Pence held regular briefings when he was put in charge of the coronavirus task force, and liberal outlets such as CNN regularly complained if former President Trump went too long without speaking to the press.

Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t held a formal press briefing since taking office, even after President Biden tapped her to lead diplomatic efforts to solve the border crisis.

While CNN has found time to report Harris is frustrated that renovations to her residence are taking too long, it has not published anything calling for her to speak up. However, CNN reported "Harris will not be in attendance" on Wednesday when the White House briefs members of the House of Representatives on the border crisis.  

Cornell Law School professor and media critic William A. Jacobson thinks it’s time for Harris to field questions from reporters about her plans.

"As the person put in charge of the border crisis, Harris should be answering questions about how the Biden/Harris administration has young migrant children packed into 'cages' and enclosures, creating not only humanitarian relief problems, but also COVID superspreader locations," Jacobson told Fox News.

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"But as during the campaign, the mainstream liberal media allows Biden and Harris to get away with hiding," Jacobson continued. "The contrast with the media attack mentality during the Trump years is dramatic."

Perhaps Harris simply doesn’t want to face tough questions about the polarizing situation, as Politico reported earlier in the week that "some people close to Harris" think the responsibility of overseeing the border crisis could "complicate her political future."

"For allies, the enormity of the task did not go unnoticed, nor were they pollyannaish about the risks and how it might play out," Politico’s Eugene Daniels wrote.

Conservative strategist Chris Barron feels the media is soft on Harris now that she’s in office after treating her "more like a pop culture icon than a political candidate" during the 2020 campaign.

"Since assuming the office, Harris has posed for plenty of photos but outside of that its entirely unclear what her role in the administration actually is and it would appear no one in the media is even remotely interested in figuring it out," Barron told Fox News.

McCall thinks the dynamic between Biden and Harris has been interesting to watch unfold and the border situation is the latest wrinkle.

"It is normal enough for a vice president to stay in the background a bit and not steal the thunder of the sitting president. Harris seems to be present at many of Biden's public appearances, but seldom has an apparent role or makes comments," McCall said.

"She now is supposed to be managing various aspects of the border crisis, but it is still rather unclear about exactly what her duties and responsibilities are. Once Biden handed the border baton off to Harris, it would seem she should be held accountable to explain her role and the strategies she plans to implement," he added.

Indeed, Harris’ role remains murky but she hasn’t exactly offered an explanation that would presumably occur if she took questions from the press. Last week, a senior aide to Harris told reporters the vice president "is not doing the border" and she would not be tackling policy for the southern border, instead focusing on the root causes for illegal immigration from Central America.

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There would still be plenty of questions if she was only tasked with reviewing why waves of migrants seeking shelter in the U.S. have been arriving from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, after traveling through Mexico.

"This strategy of keeping Harris out of the line of fire is consistent with how the administration has managed to keep the president himself out of public scrutiny," McCalll said. "This stealthy approach will work fine as long as the media generally play along, which it seems the media is willing to do for the foreseeable future."

Fox News’ Houston Keene and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.