Sawt Falasteen - Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz

After weeks of largely avoiding interviews since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has taken a leaf out of rival Donald Trump's playbook and started speaking to a host of podcasters and friendly outlets.

From the popular "Call Her Daddy" podcast aimed at Gen-Z women to former radio "shock jock" Howard Stern, the 59-year-old vice president has barely been off the airwaves.

It's true that Harris did also sit down for a full-on interview on topics with one of the biggest US news institutions of all, the "60 Minutes" show on CBS — one that Trump himself backed out of.

But it was in less formal settings, which also included Hollywood star Whoopi Goldberg's daytime show "The View" and with the late-night comic Stephen Colbert, where Harris appeared to relish a more relaxed atmosphere.

Her campaign has heavily played up what it says is a way of targeting specific groups of voters, including young people and women, especially as Americans increasingly abandon "legacy" media.

"This plan makes a ton of sense to me," former White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told the left-leaning MSNBC network -- rejecting as sour grapes the complaints by some traditional media that Harris would face softball questions.

- 'Daddy gang' -

Psaki highlighted Harris's appearance on podcaster Alexandra Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" show, which features frank discussions on sex and mental health, saying it was "far more valuable than any interview with a more traditional outlet."

The podcast was ranked as Spotify's second-biggest of 2023, behind "The Joe Rogan Experience," and the top podcast for women listeners.

Harris's interview with the podcast was a prime example of a more at-ease side of America's first Black, female and South Asian vice president, who has often appeared tense in major interviews.

Asked by Cooper to "tell the daddy gang" about her views, Harris spoke at length on protecting abortion rights and slammed Republican Trump for his sexist comments, saying it was "really important not to let other people define you."

Predictably in a deeply polarized America, there was some backlash against the host, including from listeners who criticized her for bringing politics into the show.

Trump has had similar success with unconventional media, reaching out to a core constituency of disaffected young men with macho messaging on influential right-wing podcasts -- and through an interview and campaign appearances with tech titan Elon Musk.

But Harris has been keen to show she has her own mediasphere on the left.

Former bad-boy Howard Stern hailed Harris on his SiriusXM show on Tuesday as "great" and "compassionate" and urged her to "end this nightmare" by beating Trump -- while Harris spoke about her fondness for raisin bran cereal and exercises while watching a left-leaning morning political show, and how she is a fan of Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton.

- 'Softball questions' -

Trump hit back the next day. "BETA MALE Howard Stern made a fool of himself on his low rated radio show when he "interviewed" Lyin' Kamala Harris, and hit her with so many SOFTBALL questions that even she was embarrassed," he said on his Truth Social network.

But Harris faced multiple probing questions on her blitz. Colbert, with whom she shared a Miller High Life beer, pushed her repeatedly on Israel's war in Gaza, while Republicans pounced on Harris for saying on ABC's "The View" that there was "not a thing that comes to mind" that she'd change about President Joe Biden's policies.

Kenneth Miller, a political science expert of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said non-traditional media were increasingly a better way to get policy across to voters.

"Frankly, traditional outlets ask bad questions," he told AFP.

He said Trump and Harris were doing similar things for different reasons.

"Trump is about seeking out friendly outlets," he said, whereas "Harris is about seeking outlets that give her access to the voters that she needs" including under-50s and independents.

"It's a style of media that candidates enjoy," he added.

Two strangely similar remarks by Trump and Harris on Tuesday seemed to bear that out in the middle of a punishing campaign.

"This is my form of therapy, right now," Harris told Stern, just hours before Trump said on a Los Angeles radio station: "You know what this is for me? Therapy."

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST