Why Wouldn't Alex Cooper Interview Kamala Harris?
The year is 2024 and presidential candidates are navigating a vastly different media landscape from even just eight years ago. For example, over the summer, Donald Trump joined 23-year-old Twitch streamer Adin Ross for a livestream interview with Ross' hordes of Gen Z fanboys. And on Sunday, the Call Her Daddy podcast—the biggest podcast in the country among millennial and Gen Z women of all political affiliations—released a 40-minute interview between host Alex Cooper and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, in which the two discussed Trump's lies about abortion and the stakes of the upcoming election.
At one point, Cooper asked Harris about Trump's recent pledge to be women's "protector" if elected. In response, Harris raised that when Trump was president, he "hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did just as he intended." Harris continued, “This is the same guy that said women should be punished for having abortions." Cooper also asked about Trump's repeated lie that Democrats like Harris support abortion as a means of "execution at birth." Harris responded, “That is not happening anywhere in the United States." True!
But, since the episode came out, reactions have been mixed. Political journalists seem entertained by the idea of our potential next president stopping by a podcast that often revolves around celebrity gossip and sex positions. Some are rehashing the scrutiny Harris has faced in recent weeks for not sitting for enough interviews with actual journalists. And some, including many of Cooper's listeners, are pissed that Harris was featured at all. On Monday, the Daily Beast reported on a barrage of social media users who are calling the episode "propaganda" and labeling CHD "disgusting" for wading into politics. Some fans said they plan to stop listening in protest, which... seems dramatic.
On Cooper's end, she begins the episode by preemptively addressing all of this: “I am so aware I have a very mixed audience when it comes to politics, so please hear me when I say my goal today is not to change your political affiliation." She also says she invited Trump to come on her show but didn't hear back. I'm frankly surprised by the backlash: Why wouldn't Cooper interview Harris, who could be the first woman president of the United States? Why wouldn't someone with a massive platform wield it to help educate young women voters about an upcoming presidential election—especially one with such significant ramifications for their rights and livelihood? It's confusing why so many fans are this angry about the interview—regardless of political affiliation, I'd expect listeners of this famously sex-positive podcast to at least acknowledge that abortion bans are at odds with CHD's entire ethos, or be curious to hear about how Project 2025 includes a proposal to ban porn.
And on Harris' end, this was a strategically smart move for her too—again, CHD has a massive following among young women of all political affiliations. And, incidentally, Trump has spent the last several weeks hammering his most insidious lies (specifically, about abortion) at this exact demographic. In September, Trump posted on Truth Social (then proceeded to recite this verbatim in a speech), “WOMEN WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, CONFIDENT AND FREE”—so much so that “YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION." He continued, “I WILL PROTECT WOMEN AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE. THEY WILL FINALLY BE HEALTHY, HOPEFUL, SAFE, AND SECURE. THEIR LIVES WILL BE HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL, AND GREAT AGAIN!”
It only makes sense that Harris would hop on a widely streamed podcast among the exact audience that Trump's been lying to. Abortion is the issue of the election—it's Harris' strongest position, the centerpiece of her campaign, and it's also Trump's weakest position, given the deep unpopularity of abortion bans. For that exact reason, women voters—particularly women voters of reproductive age—could play a decisive role in the outcome of the election. And CHD is a smart way to reach them.
At another point in the interview, Cooper asks Harris about Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' (R) recent comments in which she mocked Harris for not having biological children to keep her "humble." In response, Harris says she feels "sorry" for Sanders: “Because I don’t think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who one, are not aspiring to be humble. 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 very important for women to lift each other up.” Harris specifically points to her two stepchildren whom she shares with husband Douglas Emhoff. “I love those kids to death. Family comes in many forms, and I think that increasingly, all of us understand that this is not the 1950s anymore,” she said. Cooper also raises that one in four millennial and Gen Z adults say they don't want children, citing the untenable costs of parenting. Harris responded by detailing her plan to drive down housing costs and offer tax credits to young parents.
All of this seems like valuable information for millennial and Gen Z CHD listeners to have on hand. And, to Cooper's point, they can choose what to do with it!