Kamala Harris Laughs Through a Dead-Silent Room at Richard Pan Campaign Event

Adriana Stone 0 1 min read

Kamala Harris hit the campaign trail Friday with Democrat Richard Pan, but the event quickly turned awkward. The former vice president tried to get a laugh from the room. Instead, campaign staffers sat quietly as the moment fell flat.

Pan is a former California state senator who is now running for California’s 6th Congressional District in the Sacramento area. He is facing incumbent Republican-turned-Independent Rep. Kevin Kiley.

The campaign stop also raised questions about press access. Harris and Pan appeared at Pan’s campaign headquarters in Sacramento, but some news organizations were not invited to cover the appearance. KCRA reported that it was not invited or approved to cover the event. The New York Times was also excluded.

Other outlets, including two local television stations, The Sacramento Bee, and the Los Angeles Times, covered Harris’ stop. A spokesman for Pan’s campaign told KCRA that the decision to exclude the outlets came from Harris’ team. Pan, however, denied banning KCRA or other news organizations.

Kiley criticized the situation in a social media post, arguing that press access should not depend on party politics.

“It’s been 72 hours and Governor Newsom still has not condemned Richard Pan banning the New York Times and KCRA from covering his campaign event. Freedom of the press should not be a partisan issue.”

— Rep. Kevin Kiley

Then came the moment that drew the most attention. Harris tried to crack a joke and began laughing. The staffers in the room did not join her. The result was an uncomfortable silence as she waited for a reaction that never came.

“Please remember to shower!” Harris told the room full of campaign staffers, laughing. The staffers remained quiet.

The scene added to the awkwardness of a campaign stop already marked by a dispute over media access.

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