A panel of so-called political analysts on CNN exploded into a heated argument about whether the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris is taking the right tack in shielding her from unscripted interactions with the media going into her third week on the trail.

The discussion followed an hourlong press conference staged by former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence where he lambasted Democrats for pushing President Joe Biden out of the race and knocked Harris as not “smart enough” to debate him. The vice president has agreed to honor Biden’s commitment to a September 10th debate but has rebuffed Trump’s calls for additional showdowns, saying she would make a decision after their first.

“When is Harris going to start taking questions? Taking two questions on the way from the tarmac is not taking questions,” one panelist said in reaction to a 70-second stop that Harris had with reporters on her way to a campaign event. The appearance was essentially the only one she has held since launching her presidential campaign, sticking instead to tightly controlled speeches backed by teleprompters. Another agreed that Trump’s pressure has helped to “trap her” into eventually talking to the media.

“Look, she’s going to take questions. We’re going to make sure of that. But, you know, there’s been a bit of a honeymoon period. I think she’s giving Tim Walz a moment, but he did make that contrast, I think, really clear. The rest of it was such a waste of time,” said the female guest, referring to Trump’s additional statements about the 2020 election and his continued prosecutions by the Justice Department. A third member of the group, Bakari Sellers, refuted the idea that Americans care if Harris avoids press scrums for a few weeks.

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“Don’t nobody care but us,” he started before she shot back “No, no. I speak to swing state voters all the time. They have questions, they want answers!” Yes, he replied, they may, “but you know what doesn’t have to happen? [We] don’t have to ask those questions.” The panelist was incredulous. “Because fans have to ask them?” she practically shouted back. “When surrogates ask them?” Voters “are not getting the real answer!”

Hand clapping and rising voices pockmarked what otherwise could have been a serious discussion about whether Vice President Harris is prepared to debate President Trump, the best stage provocateur in a generation, on September 10th. As her fortunes and standing in the polls have risen, some allies believe she is making the right strategic decision to lay low while others feel she is performing the same disappearing act that President Biden became known for during the 2020 campaign. It’s all about “so you can get your amazing, handsome faces on CNN like me,” Sellers said to the other women, almost setting off a firestorm of criticism before the host interjected, “That’s why we do a fact check,” prompting the group to laugh off the unpleasant atmosphere so palpable at the table.

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Sellers, a former Democratic state lawmaker from South Carolina, did his best to defuse legitimate questions about whether the Harris campaign is better to fire off rapid response social media posts in response to Trump’s appearance than to have their candidate take to a podium and share her thoughts. “What I’m just saying to you is that this campaign is not just one that’s online.”

“You lose credibility” when you defend her avoidance of the press, a female panelist shot back, “Because if it was someone else you would be demanding that they sit down for questions! And you know what? It will make her a better candidate if she does it.”

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