WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Vice President Kamala Harris opened a media blitz by the Democratic ticket on Sunday by appearing on the popular 鈥淐all Her Daddy鈥� 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 Democratic 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鈥檚 empowerment. The discussion with 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.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 hear no. I urge all the 鈥楧addy Gang,鈥� don鈥檛 hear no, just don鈥檛 hear it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really important not to let other people define you.鈥�
The interview was part of a broader media outreach effort by and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as the Democrats seek to boost their support in the final 30 days of the campaign against Republicans and .
Harris has been criticized for not doing more media interviews.
On the podcast, the Democratic nominee largely stuck to her usual messaging on abortion, and said that in her travels she's seen that even people who have strong opposition to abortion tell her they 鈥渁re now seeing what鈥檚 happening and saying 鈥楬mm, I didn鈥檛 intend for all this to happen' 鈥� when they see the health problems arising since Roe v. Wade was repealed.
Harris dinged Trump as she has in recent speeches, leaning in on his integrity and saying 鈥渢his guy is full of lies鈥� when he talks about abortion and other issues. She dismissed Vance鈥檚 comments about 鈥渃hildless cat ladies鈥� as 鈥渕ean, and mean-spirited.鈥�
Trump has continued to stress 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, has said his remark about childless women were misinterpreted and that he wants to support families.
There's much more to come from Harris and Walz.
Harris has taped an interview with CBS鈥� 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� that will air Monday night. She is booked Tuesday on Howard Stern鈥檚 satellite radio show, ABC鈥檚 鈥淭he View鈥� and 鈥淭he Late Show鈥� with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Walz will be on Jimmy Kimmel鈥檚 ABC show on Monday.
In a 鈥�60 Minutes鈥� excerpt released Sunday, Harris navigated around a question about whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was 鈥渁 real close ally,鈥� saying that 鈥淭he 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.鈥�
And nearly a week after his verbal stumbles in the only , used his debut campaign appearance on a Sunday news show to try to fend off criticism of his stand on abortion rights and to 鈥渙wn up鈥� to past misstatements.
Walz's Fox appearance also touched on the turmoil in the Middle East, with anchor Shannon Bream pressing the Minnesota governor on whether Israel has a right to preemptively attack in response to Tehran's firing of missiles against Israel. It was a question that Walz did not fully answer during his debate this past week with Vance, an Ohio senator.
Walz said Sunday that 鈥渟pecific operations will be dealt with at the time鈥� and he spoke of 鈥漜onsequences for what they do."
He said Israel has a right to defend itself and that Harris worked with Israel this past week to repel the Iranian attack. said last week he would not support an Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran鈥檚
Walz defended a to ensure abortion protections, saying it "puts the decision with the woman and her health care providers.鈥�
Trump has said he would not sign a national abortion ban into law, and during the interview Sunday, Walz was asked whether he was calling that 鈥渁 flat-out lie.鈥�
鈥淵es ... of course,鈥� Walz said.
Walz also faced questions in the interview 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.
鈥淚 will own up when I misspeak,鈥� Walz said. 鈥淚 will own up when I make a mistake.鈥�
He said he believes voters are more concerned by the fact that Vance could not acknowledge during their debate that Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden and that there could be restrictions on the infertility treatments, like the that his wife, Gwen, received.
鈥淚 think they鈥檙e probably far more concerned with that than my wife and I used IUI to have our child and that Donald Trump would restrict that," Walz said. "So I think folks know who I am.鈥�
Bream noted that Trump has come out in support of fertility treatments, even as he has said that abortion questions should be decided by states.
Josh Boak, The Associated Press
