by Hailey Gomez
The Harris-Walz campaign has continuously denied reporters and photographers from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette access to the campaign events, reportedly due to labor action within the company, according to an op-ed from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editor Brandon McGinley (pictured above).
Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz began their bus tour in the battleground state of Georgia, kicking off their outreach to voters following the Democratic National Convention (DNC). McGinley called out the Democratic campaign Saturday, claiming it has barred “Post-Gazette reporters from the veep announcement, from parts of the Democratic National Convention and (as of this writing) from all future events where they have the ability to control access.”
“It’s a form of political pandering at the expense of core democratic principles — exactly what the campaign claims to be fighting against in the Republican Party,” McGinley stated.
The barring from the campaign is reportedly connected to labor actions that began in October 2022, when a journalists’ strike erupted after a Teamsters unit, one of the largest labor unions in America, went on strike over the suspension of a legacy health care plan. McGinley stated that as negotiations have continued, the union interfered with the outlet’s reporting and allegedly persuaded Democratic officials and candidates to decline interviews with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“Denying access to disfavored press as a favor to political allies, however, just further institutionalizes the new normal, where the application of all principles depends on whether you’re a friend or an enemy. Today, the Harris-Walz campaign considers the Post-Gazette to be its enemy, and it denies us the rights accorded to others. Tomorrow, who’s next?” McGinley asked.
Notably, the largest labor union’s endorsement remains undecided as International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien declined on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday to commit to endorsing either Harris or former President Donald Trump. Although the group has not endorsed a Republican president since 1988, O’Brien stated that Harris will not receive their endorsement until a meeting determines their choice.
“You don’t hire someone unless you give them an interview,” O’Brien said. “And you know, this is our opportunity to ask her about Teamster specific issues and also labor issues. So until we have that meeting, you know, obviously we will wait to make that determination.”
The move by Harris and Walz’s campaign to block reporters from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, however, isn’t the first time the campaign has pushed against the press. On July 29, the Associated Press’ chief political reporter, Steve Peoples, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the campaign was “blocking reporters from talking to voters outside the press pen at the Whitmer/Shapiro event in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.”
Harris campaign is blocking reporters from talking to voters outside the press pen here at Whitmer/Shapiro event in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
— Steve Peoples (@sppeoples) July 29, 2024
Peoples noted that campaign staff at the Pennsylvania event eventually allowed him to leave the press pen in order to talk to voters after “someone from Delaware headquarters intervened.” The incident involving Peoples occurred nearly a month after reporters claimed President Joe Biden’s campaign staffers tried to halt their interviews with voters following his poor debate performance.
In late June, Biden, then the Democratic presidential nominee, had what even liberal analysts dubbed a “disastrous” debate performance against Trump, stumbling through answers and freezing mid-sentence. After the event, several reporters stated that Biden’s campaign staffers tried to cut off conversations with voters as sentiments turned negative.
“As I spoke to voters at a Las Vegas rally for Vice President Harris, a Nevada Biden campaign staffer followed me and twice asked that voters end their interviews when their comments turned critical of President Biden,” New York Times reporter Simon Levin wrote.
Until this week, Harris faced criticism for avoiding an in-depth interview over a month after becoming her party’s presumptive nominee. While she and Walz eventually sat down with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday, Harris failed to explain her flip-flopping on some far-left policies she campaigned on in 2020 during the nearly half an hour interview.
Harris has also been called out for not releasing a full policy platform on her campaign website as of Sunday.
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Hailey Gomez is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Brandon McGinley” by Brandon McGinley.
