Kamala Harris sat for an interview on the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy,” for an episode that was released over the weekend. The podcast, helmed by host Alex Cooper, is known for being particularly popular with young women.
The interview was part of the Democratic presidential campaign’s ongoing strategy of using sit-downs with nontraditional media sources to spread its messaging to targeted groups. Harris recently did an interview on “All the Smoke,” a sports-focused podcast known for its popularity among men of color. On Tuesday, she will be interviewed by Howard Stern, a longtime shock jock with a large male audience.
The podcast, helmed by host Alex Cooper, is known for being particularly popular with young women.
Trump also has gone on a tour of nontraditional media, though his podcast-heavy schedule has seemed structured almost entirely to shore up his support with men (albeit in some pretty juvenile ways). Harris’ “Call Her Daddy” interview was the antithesis of that.
Where Trump and his movement have embraced the chauvinism of the 19th and 20th century and obsessed over “tradwives” — women defined by their roles as homemakers and caretakers — the Democratic candidate spoke to the podcast’s massive audience of women and encouraged them to define themselves.
Harris said her mom had taught her and her sister “the importance of us being able to express how we were feeling,” that they “had agency” in how their lives played out, and that they ought to “figure out how you can take charge of a moment.”
When Cooper asked Harris about Trump’s thinly veiled sexist attacks, in which he has called her “crazy, weak, fake and dumb,” the VP replied: “I think it’s really important not to let other people define you.”
At one point, the conversation shifted to the crisis of domestic and sexual violence against women. Cooper said many of her listeners have described the shame and the terror they feel about coming forward, but Harris — a former prosecutor — told listeners not to “quietly suffer” and advised them to “tell someone that you trust.”
And when Cooper asked about how we can make the country safer for women, Harris did an effective job of explaining how women’s economic independence factors into the equation. She said:
When a woman — and, in particular, if she has children — if she is economically reliant on her abuser, she’s less likely to leave. Because most women will endure whatever personal, physical pain they must in order to make sure their kids have a roof over their head, or food. So one of the ways that we know that women are able to walk away from abuse — and there are many layers to her being able to do that — but one of them is: Does she have the economic freedom to be able to do that? Right? So one of the ways that we know we can uplift the ability of women to have choices is uplift the ability of women to have economic health and well-being.
This narrative about empowering women economically runs counter to the GOP’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that can assist women in the workplace. Harris also spoke about the impact of abortion bans, describing the harrowing reality of women who are forced to travel out of state to receive reproductive care — assuming they even have the money and means to do so. And she attacked conservatives’ arcane view of women when asked to address Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ claim that Harris “doesn’t have anything keeping her humble” because she does not have biological children. (The vice president, of course, has two stepchildren.) “I don’t think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who, one, are not aspiring to be humble,” Harris said of Sanders. “Two, a whole lot of women out here who have a lot of love in their life, family in their life and children in their life, and I think it’s really important for women to lift each other up.” The interview was essentially a message to young women that they don’t have to accept the MAGA movement’s restrictive roles for them — and that the Harris campaign supports them leading more self-determined lives.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. Recommended
