WASHINGTON (AP) — In today’s fragmented media environment, podcasts have become prized venues for politicians to reach voters. Kamala Harris recently conducted two interviews that were released this week. One was with Shannon Sharpe, a former NFL player who hosts “Club Shay Shay” and the other was with Brené Brown, an academic whose podcast is called “Unlocking Us.”
The conversations covered a lot of the same ground as previous interviews, such as Harris' plan for making it more affordable to care for the elderly and her love of Venn diagrams for explaining complicated concepts.
But even with a week to go until the election, there are still a few new things to learn.
Harris warned Black voters against supporting Donald Trump
Sharpe asked Harris some pointed questions about how Black voters, particularly men, seem to have gravitated toward her Republican opponent.
Harris responded by talking about how Trump spread lies about how Barack Obama, the first Black president, wasn't born in the United States, and how Haitian migrants in Ohio were eating people's pets.
Then she pivoted to a broader warning about how Trump views the world.
“Don’t think you’re in Donald Trump’s club. You’re not," Harris said. "He’s not going to be thinking about you. You think he’s having you over for dinner?”
When Trump is with his “billionaire buddies,” she said, he’s not thinking about the needs of Black men, such as better healthcare and educational opportunities.
“Should he be president of the United states? That’s the question.”
Harris talks about ‘Black jobs’
Trump caused a stir during his debate against President Joe Biden when he said that migrants were taking “Black jobs.”
Harris waved off the comment while talking to Sharpe, saying Trump is trying to make voters think “it's either you or them.”
“What do you define as a Black job? Let me tell you what I define as a Black job," she said. "Vice president of the United States.”
“That's a good one,” Sharpe responded. “I don’t know about the pay, but it's a good job to have."
Harris laughed. “Well, you know, not everybody is Shannon Sharpe," she said.
Harris talked about trying to stay fresh on the campaign trail
Sharpe’s interviews start with a toast, but Harris cheerfully declined the liquor.
“I’m not going to actually drink this because I might fall asleep,” she said, adding that she needed to be fresh for an appearance with Obama later that day.
Harris said she still works out every morning, no matter how late she's up the night before, and that she started eating breakfast when she got older.
“It’s usually a spinach omelet,” she said. “I like chicken apple sausage and some toast.”
Harris keeps an eye on the clock
Politicians are notorious for being late, especially presidents who are used to having the world wait for them.
But Harris said she’s a stickler for staying on schedule, to the point that others have poked fun at her.
“It’s really important to me to be on time,” she told Brown. “Like someone teased me recently who’s worked with a lot of elected leaders. And like I’ve never seen an elected leader who is always on time. But I feel that I owe other people the respect of knowing their time is important.”
Chris Megerian, The Associated Press