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That Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s handlers are keeping him sequestered in the basement as often as possible from the mainstream media is not new news. But on Tuesday, many members of the mainstream media broke their silence on social media regarding what has become another access issue for them – this time concerning Kamala Harris.

NBC News reporter Deepa Shivaram, who is embedded with Harris’s traveling press corps, took to the Twitter machine last night to vent about how the Democratic vice presidential nominee “has not once formally taken questions from the press” since becoming the nominee:

A reminder that it has been 42 days since Harris was tapped as the VP pick.

There are 42 days until election day.

The senator has not once formally taken questions from the press.

— Deepa Shivaram (@deepa_shivaram) September 23, 2020

Shivaram noted a few minutes later that sometimes they get to “shout” questions at her as they travel from event to event but it’s never in a formalized setting like a press gaggle where reporters surround the candidate in order to get answers to questions and to ask important follow-ups:

Just to be clear, she's taken questions — but it's us shouting them out as we're moving in and out of rooms, or as she's walking in and out of events. Nothing more established than that.

— Deepa Shivaram (@deepa_shivaram) September 23, 2020

In spite of Harris’s apologists spinning like tops to try and refute Shivaram’s claims, she pressed on:

Good question. She sat down for two interviews, ones with NBC and CNN. She has done local press interviews in the states she's traveled to.

But besides the few shouted questions, no – there has not been a gaggle where reporters who are on the ground can ask questions. https://t.co/akOFSpIuko

— Deepa Shivaram (@deepa_shivaram) September 23, 2020

Once that dam was broken, other reporters also weighed in, including Jonathan Martin from the New York Times:

A streak that’s as remarkable as the comments from people doing volunteer rapid response are predicable

@deepa_shivaram is right to keep pressing on this. Harris should take Qs from the reporters traveling w her. https://t.co/aPdtbZkVm9

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 23, 2020

Andrew Desiderio from Politico:

Sen. Harris hasn’t taken questions from reporters since being named as the VP nominee — but tomorrow she’ll be at the Capitol for an Intelligence Committee briefing, where she certainly will not be able to avoid us. https://t.co/rj57ofEs9j

— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) September 23, 2020

Ed O’Keefe from CBS News:

I stand corrected: The senator does do local interviews when on trips, recently with TV stations in Miami and Philly. But the reluctance to answer questions on a regular basis is frustrating, especially for a candidate who used to more regularly.

— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) September 23, 2020

Re: O’Keefe’s point: I don’t mean any disrespect by this but local reporters are often viewed by presidential campaigns as less combative and more receptive to “the message” than journalists from national news outlets like the NY Times, etc. who are more familiar with their positions as a result of tracking and following them over longer periods of time. But O’Keefe is right on the money on how most of Harris’s interviews as the VP nominee have been with “friendly national” and “niche outlets.” Not much in the way of hard-hitting interviews.

“The Hill” media reporter Joe Concha:

Therre hasn't been a more invisible vice presidential candidate in history than Kamala Harris. Probably have to go back to Dan Quayle in terms of a campaign essentially hiding a candidate. Can't even point to one major moment, interview or soundbite from Harris to this point…

— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) September 23, 2020

The Daily Beast’s political editor Sam Stein, formerly of HuffPo infamy, said the quiet part out loud about how the Biden-Harris campaign’s penchant for hiding from the press “has a foul stench of insecurity” about it:

The Biden campaign’s reluctance to talk to the press is not just annoying (though it’s that), it’s bad for our system of governance (especially during COVID) and has a foul stench of insecurity. https://t.co/J0RwLj6v0V

— Sam Stein (@samstein) September 23, 2020

Gee. Ya think?

Meanwhile, the Daily Caller is reporting on how many times Biden’s handlers have called a “lid” on his campaign this month alone:

This is every day so far in the month of September that the Biden Campaign has called a full lid before Noon pic.twitter.com/dqdJlqdjMc

— Alec Sears (@alec_sears) September 22, 2020

For those wondering what a “lid” is:

A "lid" is called by a campaign to signal that the candidate is done making news for the day. Meaning Joe Biden is in his basement to stay for the day.

— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) September 22, 2020

President Trump skewered Biden over his lack of availability during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania Tuesday night:

President @realDonaldTrump rips Joe Biden for calling a lid early this morning: "Lid means he's not going to be anywhere today. I'm working my ass off. I'm in Ohio, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin." pic.twitter.com/iDTuIOQRLN

— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) September 23, 2020

My question here is what else did these reporters expect? They gave Joe Biden all kinds of free passes on hiding in his basement all the way up until Harris was announced as his vice-presidential running mate. And they treated Kamala Harris like a queen while she was still a candidate for president. Now all of a sudden they want to complain about a lack of access to the Democratic presidential ticket?

Here’s an idea: Don’t set the precedent for these types of things to happen in the first place, and maybe the political figures you want answers from won’t expect you to tolerate their avoidance antics later.

Related/Flashback –>> Watch: Reporters AGAIN Herded Away From Biden as Questions Are Asked, Even Kamala Appears Tense