WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris opened a media blitz on the Democratic side Sunday by appearing on the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy” about abortion, sexual abuse and other issues affecting women, working in some digs with his Republican opponent along the border. path.
In the roughly 40-minute interview, recorded last week, the Democratic presidential candidate spoke about the courage it takes to be a woman seeking public office, the toughness her mother instilled in her and the importance of reproductive rights in this election.
The show is the most listened to podcast for women and has millions of fans talking about relationships, sex, mental health and female empowerment. The discussion with Harris was mostly quiet for the show, with the vice president keeping her message focused, in part, on the importance of ignoring people who doubted her.
“I can’t hear no. I urge all the ‘Daddy Gang,’ don’t hear no, just don’t hear it,” she said. “I think it’s really important to not let other people define you.”
The interview was part of a broader media outreach effort by Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as Democrats seek to shore up their support in the final 30 days of campaigning against Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance.
Harris has been criticized for not giving more media interviews.
On the podcast, the Democratic candidate largely stuck to her usual messaging on abortion and said that in her travels she found that even people strongly opposed to abortion told her they “Now see what’s happening and say, ‘Hmm, I did it.’ I don’t intend for any of this to happen” when they see the health problems that have arisen since the repeal of Roe v. Wade.
Harris criticized Trump as she has in recent speeches, relying on his integrity and saying “this guy is full of lies” when speaking about abortion and other issues. She dismissed Vance’s comments about “childless cat ladies” as “mean and petty.”
Trump has repeatedly emphasized that abortion policy should be left to the states and that doctors have a duty to provide emergency care to women whose lives are in danger. Vance, for his part, said his remarks about childless women were misinterpreted and that he wanted to support families.
There is much more to come from Harris and Walz.
Harris recorded an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that will air Monday evening. She is scheduled Tuesday for Howard Stern’s satellite radio show, “The View” on ABC and “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Walz will appear on Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC show on Monday.
In an excerpt from “60 Minutes” published Sunday, Harris skirted the question of whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “a real close ally,” saying that “the better question is: do we have an important alliance between the people American and the American people? The Israeli people? And the answer to this question is yes.
And nearly a week after his verbal stumbles during the only vice presidential debate, Walz used his first appearance on the campaign trail on a Sunday news show to try to fend off criticism of his stance on the right to abortion and to “admit” past inaccuracies.
Walz’s appearance on Fox also addressed unrest in the Middle East, with anchor Shannon Bream pressing Minnesota’s governor on whether Israel has the right to preemptively attack the United States’ nuclear and oil facilities. Iran in response to Tehran’s missile attacks against Israel. It’s a question Walz didn’t fully answer during his debate last week with Vance, an Ohio senator.
Walz said Sunday that “specific operations will be addressed at that time” and he spoke of the “consequences of what they do.”
He said Israel had the right to defend itself and that Harris had worked with Israel last week to repel the Iranian attack. President Joe Biden said last week that he would not support an Israeli strike on sites linked to Tehran’s nuclear program.
Walz defended a law he signed as governor to ensure abortion protections, saying it “leaves the decision up to the woman and her health care providers.”
Trump has said he would not sign a national law banning abortion, and during Sunday’s interview, Walz was asked if he called that an “outright lie.”
“Yes…of course,” Walz said.
Walz also faced questions during the interview about inaccurate statements related to his military service, his arrest for drunk driving, his family’s infertility treatment and claims that he Reportedly in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre in China in 1989.
“I recognize my language errors,” Walz said. “I recognize when I make a mistake.”
He said he thought voters were more concerned that Vance failed to acknowledge during their debate that Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden and that there could be restrictions on voting. infertility treatments, such as the intrauterine insemination his wife, Gwen, received.
“I think they’re probably a lot more concerned about that than the fact that my wife and I used the IUI to have our child and that Donald Trump would limit that,” Walz said. “So I think people know who I am.”
Bream noted that Trump has come out in favor of fertility treatments, even though he has said abortion issues should be decided by states.
