Kamala Harris Blocks Reporters from Hawaii Event Amid Kabul Firestorm

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Vice President Kamala Harris inexplicably blocked reporters for an event in Hawaii on Thursday amid the firestorm over events in Afghanistan.

“The VP’s staff informed the pool during the flight that her event with troops at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam would now be closed press,” an update from Harris’ press pool said late Thursday. “No explanation given by the VP’s team for why it has been changed to closed press when asked by a member of the pool.”

The event is on the tail end of Harris’ trip to southeast Asia, which was plagued by negative headlines for the vice president. She departed the United States for Singapore on Friday, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong suggested the “awry” withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan had created problems for America’s image around the globe.

Before that event, she laughed in response to a reporter who asked her to address Americans trapped in Afghanistan.

Harris had been set to fly to San Francisco next to stump for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who is facing a recall election just two years into his term as governor. She is now slated to return to Washington, D.C. instead.