(NewsNation) — Two weeks before Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is shifting her media strategy as she makes her pitch to voters.
Harris wasn’t on the campaign trail Tuesday but in Washington, D.C., attending briefings and meeting with staff. She was scheduled to sit down for two media interviews.
That is part of her evolving media strategy, giving reporters more access and chances to ask questions several times a day, doing more sit-down interviews and generally being more open to questions.
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The change comes as former President Donald Trump has been shown to have a slight lead in several key battleground states.
Harris has been sharpening her attacks on the former president, using her final message to remind voters of who she says Trump is and why voters rejected him four years ago.
On the trail, she’s made her pitch to undecided and Republican voters, warning that “the consequences of him being president of the United States are brutally serious.”
“I do believe Donald Trump to be an unserious man, but the consequences of him being in the White House again are brutally serious,” Harris said. “He has been manipulated and is so clearly able to be manipulated by favor and flattery, including from dictators and autocrats around the world.”
Voters at her event in Pennsylvania who spoke to NewsNation agreed.
“What she said about being a conservative, that if you’re truly a conservative, it’s about the Constitution and believing in who’s going to keep the Constitution,” said voter Julia Dischell. “I think that’s a great takeaway, especially for Republicans who may feel that Trump doesn’t speak with them.”
However, the focus on Trump takes time away from Harris’ focus on herself and her policies.
While President Joe Biden has been touting the Biden-Harris administration’s work, there have been no solo appearances from the president campaigning for Harris, and sources say that may not happen before election day.
That comes as Harris has increased her distance from her former running mate, trying to create her own lane.
But that can be a challenge for voters who hold her accountable for the last 3 1/2 years since she was part of the administration.
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Biden spoke highly of Harris at an event Monday night.
“I know the power of women in this room to get things done and uplift the next generation of pioneers. Proving a woman can do anything a man can do, and then some, and that includes being president of the United States of America,” he said.
Meanwhile, Harris has tried to distance herself.
“Needless to say, mine will not be a continuation of the Biden administration,” she said. “I bring to it my own ideas, my own experiences. But it is also about moving past what, frankly, I think has been the last decade of American discourse being influenced by Donald Trump.”
On Thursday, Harris will campaign alongside former President Barack Obama for the first time since she replaced Biden at the top of the ticket.
