Since stepping into the role of Democratic Presidential candidate on July 21st of this year, Kamala Harris has made precious little TV appearances let alone interviews, so her appearance on Alex Cooper’s hit podcast “Call Her Daddy” undoubtedly raised eyebrows among the public. Since the beginning, Harris’ strategy has evidently been to target a younger, more female demographic, so while this decision is surprising, it’s not entirely unfounded.
Alex Cooper’s podcast is currently Spotify’s second biggest behind Joe Rogan and its casual format has guests sitting opposite the host in a fuzzy chair with their shoes off and frequently has them dive into topics such as childhood, fame, family, sex, dating and so on. The podcast was previously owned by the problematic social media outlet “Barstool Sports”, however, Cooper split from them in 2021 and signed a 60 million dollar podcast deal with Spotify. She has since shifted her social media image to a more serious, mature interview style, often discussing issues such as sexual violence and reproductive rights , both of which feature in her conversation with Harris.
...many people felt let down by the interview, for its lack of depth and hardline questioning.
Cooper actually begins the episode with an apology of sorts to the listener for involving herself in political discourse because she wants Call Her Daddy to “be a place that everyone feels comfortable tuning in”, perhaps indicating that it was Harris’ team that reached out to her rather than the other way round. The interview itself was relatively innocuous. Cooper and Harris had an easy rapport and the tone was very conversational but not devoid of serious and relevant topics.
The first sections dives into Harris’s childhood and the impact of being raised largely by a single mother. They then move in to a more serious conversation on the status of reproductive rights in America and Harris is eager to situate these discussions within very real contexts as she states “I don’t want to hear about public policy as a fancy speech…tell me how it’ll affect a real person”. The two then discuss the case of Amber Thurman, a mother living in Georgia who tried to access an abortion and tragically died as a consequence of the length of time it took the doctors to treat her. The economy and housing were amongst some of the subjects that were brought up, though there was relatively little interrogation of policy throughout.
The intent of this interview is clearly to target young female voters, but also specifically to target those who are still undecided because Cooper’s audience actually sways right a tad more than might be expected.
This is where many people felt let down by the interview, for its lack of depth and hard-line questioning. For having done so few interviews throughout her campaign, its fair to say Harris could’ve chosen a more “prestigious” media outlet or perhaps a podcaster with scientific qualifications in relation to discussions around reproductive rights and abortion. However, if Harris’ goal is garnering votes, which it is, then this approach would’ve been far from productive.
The intent of this interview is clearly to target young female voters, but also specifically to target those who are still undecided because Cooper’s audience actually sways right a tad more than might be expected. It’s also an opportunity for Harris to target apolitical listeners and “normal” people who have become so disillusioned by politics in recent years and explain to them her policies in practical and applicable ways. In this respect it is an incredibly savvy PR move because Harris is going where she knows there is an audience and the initial disbelief of the Vice President of the United States appearing on a podcast called “Call Her Daddy” got people intrigued and therefore, listening. What we ultimately can take away from this is that Kamala Harris is willing to go wherever and speak to whoever in order to get her votes.
