Kamala Harris opens media blitz with Call Her Daddy podcast

Democrat nominee Kamala Harris talked about abortion, sexual abuse and other issues that resonate with women.

Kamala Harris sits for an interview with Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy podcast.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris opened a media blitz from the Democrat ticket on Sunday by appearing on the popular Call Her Daddy podcast about abortion, sexual abuse and other issues that resonate with women, working in some digs at her GOP opponent along the way.

In the roughly 40-minute interview, taped last week, the Democrat presidential nominee spoke about the grit 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 program is the most-­listened-to podcast for women and it has millions of fans tuning in for talk about relationships, sex, mental health and women’s empowerment. The discussion with Ms Harris was on the tame side for the show, with the Vice-President keeping her message focused, in part, on the value of ignoring ­people who have doubted her.

“I don’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 not to let other people define you.”

The interview was part of a broader media outreach effort by Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, as the Democrats seek to boost their support in the final 30 days of the campaign against ­Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance.

On the podcast, Ms Harris largely stuck to her usual mess­aging on abortion, and said in her travels she had seen that even ­people who had strong opposition to abortion told her they “are now seeing what’s happening and saying ‘Hmm, I didn’t intend for all this to happen’ ” when they see the health problems arising since Roe v Wade was repealed.

Ms Harris slammed Mr Trump, as she has in recent speeches, leaning in on his integrity and saying “This guy is full of lies” when he talks about abortion and other issues. She dismissed Senator Vance’s comments about “childless cat ladies” as “mean, and mean-spirited”.

Mr Trump has stressed that abortion policy should be left to the states and doctors had a duty to provide emergency care to women whose lives were in danger. Senator Vance, for his part, has said his remark about childless women were misinterpreted and that he wanted to support families.

There’s much more to come from Ms Harris and Mr Walz.

She has taped an interview with 60 Minutes that will air on Monday night (Tuesday AEDT). On Tuesday, she is booked on Howard Stern’s satellite radio show and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Mr Walz will be on Jimmy Kimmel’s show on Monday.

In a 60 Minutes excerpt released on Sunday, Ms Harris navigated around a question about whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “a real close ally”, saying “The better question is: Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people?

“And the answer to that question is yes.”

Nearly a week after his verbal stumbles in the only vice-presidential debate, Mr Walz used his debut campaign appearance on a Sunday news show to fend off criticism of his stand on abortion rights and “own up” to past misstatements. His Fox appearance also touched on the Middle East, with Shannon Bream pressing the Minnesota governor on whether Israel had a right to pre-emptively attack Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities in response to Tehran firing missiles against Israel. It was a question he did not fully answer during his debate this past week with Mr Vance, an Ohio senator.

Mr Walz on Sunday said “specific operations will be dealt with at the time” and spoke of “consequences for what they do”. He said Israel had the right to ­defend itself.

Mr Walz defended a law he signed as governor to ensure abortion protections, saying it “puts the decision with the woman and her healthcare providers”.

Mr Trump has said he would not sign a national abortion ban into law, and during the interview, Mr Walz was asked whether he was calling that “a flat-out lie”. “Yes ... of course,” he said.

He also faced questions about misstatements related to his military service, drunken driving arrest, infertility treatment for his family and claims to have been in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in China.

“I will own up when I misspeak,” he said. “I will own up when I make a mistake.”

AP