Vice President Kamala Harris' main strength at this time is that the mainstream news outlets are on her side, and former President Donald Trump must find a way to get past that, former Rep. Pete King said on Newsmax Sunday.
"They're going to stay on her side for a while, and President Trump has to realize that and find ways to penetrate it," the New York Republican told Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend," pointing to the media's embrace of the Harris campaign's use of the word "weird" to describe Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance.
"This is childish name-calling," he added. "You know, when Donald Trump comes up with a name for somebody, the media ridicules him [and says] that he's being childish. He's being petty."
The "weird" slams are also a way for Democrats to avoid the issues, King said.
"I don't blame the Democrats for doing it, but I do blame the media for going along with it, just like I blame them for going along with her strategy of avoiding debates," he said. "I don't blame her. She's not going to do well in a debate. She's not going to do well in answering questions from reporters. That's not her strong point. So I don't blame her. I blame the mainstream media for going along with this, including a dopey term."
Former Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., also on the program, pointed out that Harris has only answered a few questions from the media, while Trump held a press conference and answered questions from both friendly and unfriendly reporters.
"She has the nerve to say, No, we're talking about doing a press conference," Kingston said. "Like it's some big negotiation, a big event. Just walk out anywhere you are, pick up the microphone and start talking. The press will be all over her, and 90% of those questions are going to be, you know, Do you like ice cream? So I don't know what she's worried about."
But King said that he believes Harris will do poorly in a debate against Trump because "she's very artificial."
"Everything is contrived, and she cannot roll with the punches," said King, adding that when he was in Congress, he never knew anyone who "ducked reporters the way she is now."
However, he said Harris is afraid to go off script "because she's very artificial, very plastic, and when she's off that script, she's at a loss, so she starts laughing and giggling."
Kingston agreed that a debate is necessary but he doesn't trust ABC News.
"I wish Newsmax was the host on it," he said. "I would feel far more comfortable."
However, he said he does not want Trump to be overconfident in his debate with Harris.
"She can rise to the occasion for an hour and a half," he said. "We need to be constantly talking about the issues ... that's what we're not doing enough of.
"We've got to get back to the issues and quit talking about personality. No one cares that she has a low IQ. They only care that she's pro-union or pro-abortion and so forth. We've got to be talking about the issues that are winning for us, like crime and the border and inflation."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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