Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is finally kicking off a media blitz with friendly interviews after her party began to worry about her lack of visibility in the press.
Since launching her campaign, the vice president has continuously avoided national press and hard-hitting interviews as she takes a tour through non-traditional media this week. Democrats, including some of the vice president’s own staffers, expressed concern to Politico that Harris’ avoidant media strategy and light campaign schedule could backfire in the final weeks of the campaign. Since that panic, Harris appeared on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” and is also expected this week to appear on “60 Minutes,” “The View,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and “The Howard Stern Show.”
“These races are decathlons, and there are a lot of events, and you have to do all of them because people want to test you,” David Axelrod, former Obama adviser, told Politico.
“It’s the most difficult oral exam on the planet for the most difficult job, and part of that is just that spontaneous — town halls, all kinds of interviews, and not just friendly interviews. OTRs where you interact in a substantive way with people, all of those things are valuable. And I would be doing them if I were her,” he continued.
The vice president’s sit-down with Cooper aired Sunday, though it was filmed Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The interview primarily focused on abortion access, a topic Harris has frequently championed and spoken out about throughout the administration. (RELATED: ROOKE: While Hurricane Victims Suffer, Kamala Makes Time For Podcast Famous For Giving Girls Blowjob Advice)
Cooper told her listeners that she had prepared several different interviews for her sit-down with Harris and debated whether she should talk about issues such as the economy, or fracking — a policy position the vice president has continuously flip-flopped on. The “Call Her Daddy” host said she eventually landed on “women’s bodies” and the issues surrounding the topic such as abortion. Cooper added that former President Donald Trump was welcome to come on her podcast to talk about the same topic.
Social media users and conservative pundits took to Twitter to rip Harris over the interview, criticizing one moment when her and Cooper remarked that there were no laws that control men’s bodies.
“The draft. Just to name one,” Daily Wire host Brett Cooper tweeted.
“The correct answer is the draft,” political commentator Ryan Girdusky wrote.
Call Her Daddy Girl: “Are there any laws that give the government control over a man’s body?”
Kamala Harris: “No”
The correct answer is the draft
pic.twitter.com/zEIUV9mMZN— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) October 6, 2024
Harris will go on “The View” on Tuesday which just hosted President Joe Biden on Sept. 25. ABC News’ morning show was very complimentary of the president, as Whoopi Goldberg gushed over Biden.
“I’m saying it to you, you were my ride-or-die,” Goldberg said. “I was going wherever you were going, that’s where I was going. I just wanted to say that because I always felt you were going to probably do four years and then try to figure out where to go with Kamala.”
“That’s what was needed, and you did it, I just wanted to say thank you,” she added. “But, thank you for everything you’ve done in my entire lifetime.”
Colbert, who Harris is also filming with, hosted fundraisers on behalf of Biden in 2020 and 2024, according to The New York Times. Harris will also join Stern who endorsed Biden for president in 2020 and conducted what the NYT described as a “warm” interview with the 81-year-old in April before he exited the race for the White House.
.@60Minutes releases next clip from Harris interview.
Bill Whitaker presses Harris on how she will pay for her economic agenda. pic.twitter.com/AppgSTNVHw
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) October 7, 2024
Amid the vice president’s rather friendly media blitz, “60 Minutes” and her town hall with Univision are the two exceptions.
Univision’s Enrique Acevedo will host two town halls, one with Harris and another with Trump. Acevedo was previously forced to defend his 2023 interview with Trump after liberals criticized it for being too “soft.” (RELATED: Host Of Trump’s Upcoming Univision Town Hall Previously Enraged Liberals By Giving Him Fair Interview)
As Harris is going on her media tour, her running mate Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will also be making some appearances of his own. Missing from the airwaves since joining Harris on the ticket, Walz appeared on Fox News on Sunday and will join the vice president on “60 Minutes” and go on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the NYT reported. (RELATED: ‘Witness Protection’: Media-Friendly Tim Walz Has Disappeared From Airwaves Since Joining Harris Ticket)
Harris first sit-down interview came after she avoided answering questions and any interviews since launching her presidential campaign in July. More than a month into her campaign, the vice president finally sat down with CNN’s Dana Bash as she faced questions about her policy flip-flops. (RELATED: Harris Fails To Explain Flip-Flops, Says She Has No Regrets About Biden In First Interview)
The vice president has since focused on infrequent local media appearances, though she did her first solo national sit-down interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, who defended Harris’s lack of “clear” and “direct” answers.
“What she did right there was kind of explain that it’s complicated, right? We’re a country of 330 million people. Our economy is complicated. Right? In the same way as the economy good or bad? It totally depends. So tariffs, if used in the right places, can work. And one could watch that and say she didn’t give a clear, direct answer. That’s okay. Because we’re not talking about clear or direct issues,” Ruhle said of Harris’ non-answer on tariffs.