Vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., continued to insist Sunday that a recent journalism convention attended by Hillary Clinton most definitely counted as her holding a “press conference.”
ABC News’ Martha Raddatz asked Clinton’s running mate this weekend about the Democratic nominee’s lack of media avilabilty.
“Our campaign reporters and others say she doesn’t really answer that many questions. Is this going to change?” Raddatz asked.
Though many politicos and reporters maintain that it has been more than 250 days since Clinton last held a press conference, Kaine claimed Sunday that her address last month at the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in Washington, D.C., counted as a “press conference.”
“I have to push back on the notion she hasn’t done a press conference. She gave a speech to the National Association of Black Journalists within the last month, where there were also Hispanic journalists,” Kaine said. “She did a press conference there and members of mainstream media outlets, television networks, asked her questions.”
Clinton’s audience at the NABJ and NAHJ convention clapped and cheered nearly a dozen times during the Democratic presidential candidate’s address.
Clinton did take some questions from reporters after her address, but she spoke only with pre-selected members of the press.
Though many reporters said at the time Clinton’s appearance at the journalism convention most certainly did not count as participating in a press conference, the Democratic nominee’s campaign and the event’s organizers continue to say otherwise.
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon defended this characterization Friday, and criticized journalists who said otherwise.
“Pretty sure she is standing at a podium taking questions on a broad range of topics from national print and TV reporters,” Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said at the time. “The fact that journalists themselves disagree about what counts as a press [conference] suggests the inanity of this debate.”
NAHJ president Mekahlo Medina told the Huffington Post that the candidate’s Q&A with pre-selected journalists was indeed a “press event.”
“What happened today is Hillary Clinton took questions from members of the media. I don’t know if people want to call that a press conference or not, but that’s what happened,” he said.
“I’ve been a journalist for a long time,” he added. “Anytime there’s somebody who takes questions from the press at a large event, that constituted a press conference.”
Few in media have accepted that Clinton’s orchestrated appearance at the journalism convention truly counts as her participating in an unscripted, back-and forth with reporters.
On Sunday, Raddatz continued to press Kaine Sunday on whether Clinton will speak to reporters at an unscripted event soon, and asked, “So can we expect a press conference, yes or no?”
The Virginia senator appeared incapable of answering the question.
“There’s been one in the last month!” Kaine maintained, adding later, “You’re going to see Hillary very, very accessible to the press.”
