Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton hasn't held a press conference in 258 days, and it's starting to be noticed by mainstream media. The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza says it is "beyond ridiculous" that Clinton won't directly address questions from the press.
The Post blogger and political reporter argues that voters deserve to see how Clinton faces tough questioners without resorting to scripts or moderators: "The fact that she continues to avoid questions from the press is simply unacceptable given the office she is seeking and the stakes in this election," Cillizza wrote in a Thursday post. The complaint echoes long-standing criticism of Clinton from right-leaning media.
Clinton's last formal press conference took place on Dec. 5. She has done countless interviews, National Public Radio reports that a request to her campaign for an itemized list of her "nearly 300 interviews" was answered with an assurance that "a detailed reply" would be made, but it didn't arrive.
Although the media have decried the lack of access to the candidate, voters are of mixed opinions. A Rasmussen Reports survey says "82 percent of likely U.S. voters think it is important for the major presidential candidates to hold regular press conferences to answer questions from reporters."
Morning Consult, however, found that only 43 percent of voters had even noticed the lack of press conferences, and 44 percent said it had no impact on their opinion of Clinton.
Clinton's campaign touted her appearance at a joint meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists and National Association of Hispanic Journalists earlier this month, where she first participated in a moderated question and answer section, before answering a few questions from other journalists. Many journalists in attendance disagreed with the notion that the event was, in fact, a press conference.