She’s starting to use phony tactics.
Vice President Kamala Harris brushed past reporters and boarded Air Force Two on Monday with her cellphone out and headphones firmly planted in both ears, a time-honored trick in Washington to avoid pesky questions from the press.
The Democratic presidential candidate offered an awkward salute before shaking hands with a US service member and striding up the steps of her official jet, one hand pressed carefully to her ear as if listening intently to what she was being told.
Harris, 59, glanced back and waved at the scrum of reporters near the plane’s steps, pausing again at the top of the ramp to adjust her headphone while at the same time holding her phone up to her left ear.
“She may not have been a senator long, but mastered the ‘Can’t talk, on a call’ play,” noted NBC News White House correspondent Mike Memoli on X.
“PRO TIP: When pretending to be on the phone when you walk past the press to your plane, do not plug in the headphones so others can see and ALSO HOLD THE PHONE TO YOUR EAR,” former Trump 2020 campaign communications director Tim Murtagh also posted.
“This destroys the illusion and tells everyone you’re full of it … again,” added Murtagh, who is a columnist for the Washington Times. “She truly is bad at this.”
“She’s so fake,” groaned former Utah GOP Congressman and current Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz.
“Sorry, too busy to answer questions. I’m listening to the new Taylor Swift song,” joked Breitbart reporter Elizabeth Weibel.
“Kamunism avoids the press,” one X user snarked, using a moniker borrowed from a Post cover headline. “She’s just too busy and important.”
“This is a window into what a Harris presidency would be like,” another X user claimed. “No transparency, no interaction with the press. Tim Walz will just walk away when asked a serious question. Kamala wears headphones so she doesn’t even have to hear the question.”
“I bet she’s listening to an audio recording of Joe counting how many steps there are so she doesn’t fall,” a third mocked, referring to President Biden’s many stumbles when entering and exiting Air Force One.
Reporters were unable to ask about the execution by Hamas of six Israeli hostages — including 23-year-old American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin — though Harris had acknowledged that tragedy in a Saturday statement.
“As Vice President, I have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens, wherever they are in the world. President Biden and I will never waver in our commitment to free the Americans and all those held hostage in Gaza,” the statement read.
Harris had also not fielded any follow-up questions about how she performed in her CNN interview last Thursday, during which she deflected queries about both her plans to fix the economy and her reversal on fracking and declined to explain her current stance on US military aid for Israel.
The sit-down with anchor Dana Bash lasted just 27 minutes and was the only non-scripted interview Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz have given since being nominated by their party last month.
Harris uses wired rather than wireless headphones because she believes Bluetooth headsets are a “security risk,” Politico reported in December 2021.
The now-famous video of Harris calling Biden, now 81, to celebrate their victory over former President Donald Trump in November 2020 also shows her brushing back her hair with a pair of earbuds clenched in her fist.
Trump, 78, and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance have sat for at least 34 interviews, Fox News reported Tuesday.
