The sex podcaster who landed rare interview with media-shy Kamala Harris

Vice president will discuss reproductive rights and abortion with Alex Cooper on Call Her Daddy podcast on Sunday

Kamala Harris has come in for criticism, including from within her own party, for dodging journalistic scrutiny since becoming the Democrat nominee for president.
Even her Republican rival, Donald Trump, who spends much of his time decrying the “fake news media,” has agreed to more interviews than she has.
Amid criticism that she is hiding from the press, the vice president opted on Sunday to appear on an episode of the sex podcast, Call Her Daddy.
The Democratic candidate, 59, will discuss reproductive rights and abortion with the host Alex Cooper, as well as other issues important to female voters, according to Axios.
Call Her Daddy was Spotify’s second-biggest podcast last year—trailing only Joe Rogan—and the most listened to among women. Cooper is reported to have recently signed a three-year deal with SiriusXM that is valued at up to $125 million.
An ABC News/Ipsos poll published last month shows Ms. Harris with a 13-point lead over Trump among female voters—54 per cent to 41 per cent.
Most of the show’s young, female listeners will likely be pro-choice, a base Ms. Harris does not need to win over.
The podcast, which Cooper previously co-hosted with her then-New York roommate Sofia Franklyn before a public falling-out, has a reputation for vulgarity.
Titles of older episodes included: “You’re just a hole” and “small d—s for the win” and “using tears for lube.”
In earlier episodes, Cooper, 30, gives listeners detailed advice for giving oral sex.
“Listen, any girl can give a b—job. It is the accessories that you bring with that b—job that make America great again,” she declared.
The podcast has since transformed into a less salacious interview format, although one of the most recent episodes is called “b—jobs, hall passes & frat daddies,” and Cooper does not shy away from asking her guests sexual questions.
When Heidi Klum sat down with the host at the start of the year she was asked: “On a scale of prude to total freak, where do you fall, Heidi?”
She replied: “Nine.”
The decision to interview Ms. Harris is also a surprising move from Cooper, who has repeatedly dismissed the idea of having politicians appear on her show, saying her fans have “no interest” in hearing from them.
Speaking to the New York Times earlier this year when Joe Biden was on track to become the Democratic candidate, Cooper said: “Go on CNN, go on Fox… You want to talk about your sex life, Joe?”
Cooper is also known for refusing to allow publicists to sit in on interviews in the studio at her Los Angeles home, insisting they watch from another room.
The podcast boasts an average audience of around 10 million listeners per episode, and global stars such as Megan Fox, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Miley Cyrus have appeared on the program.
The interview comes off the back of Ms. Harris’s sit-down with NBA-themed podcast All The Smoke, and shows the Democratic candidate following Trump in pivoting from less traditional media appearances.
The Republican candidate has appeared on a string of podcasts, including his son Barron’s favorite show Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend.
It comes as Politico reported that nearly two dozen Democrats—including some of Ms. Harris’s team—are concerned about her relatively light campaign schedule and lack of unscripted interviews.
The insiders warned Ms. Harris’s risk-averse strategy could negatively impact her at a time when she is virtually neck and neck with Trump just one month away from the election.
“There’s a time at which you just have to barnstorm these battlegrounds,” said David Axelrod, who helped lead Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns.
He told the outlet: “It’s the most difficult oral exam on the planet for the most difficult job, and part of that is just that spontaneous—town halls, all kinds of interviews, and not just friendly interviews. OTRs where you interact in a substantive way with people, all of those things are valuable.”
He added: “And I would be doing them if I were her.”
Ms. Harris has sat for a handful of interviews with liberal broadcasters such as MSNBC and CNN. Ms. Harris has agreed to sit for an interview on CBS’s premier news program “60 Minutes”—an invitation Trump has declined.
When the left-leaning New York Times endorsed Ms. Harris last month, it noted that voters “want more details about the vice president’s plans, as well as more unscripted encounters in which she explains her vision and policies.”
It added: “Ms. Harris may think that she is running a campaign designed to minimize the risks of an unforced error… That strategy may ultimately prove winning, but it’s a disservice to the American people and to her own record.
“And leaving the public with a sense that she is being shielded from tough questions, as Mr. Biden has been, could backfire by undermining her core argument that a capable new generation stands ready to take the reins of power.”
Kevin Munoz, the Harris campaign spokesman, told Politico the campaign is bringing “voters from across the political spectrum that want to turn the page on Trump’s chaos and division,” while electing a leader focusing on uniting the country and strengthening the middle class.
“Our task for the final stretch of this campaign is ensuring that winning vision reaches the undecided voters who will decide this election in places and ways that will actually reach them,” he said. “That may look different in today’s evolving media environment than prior campaigns, but coupled with campaign events, aggressive organizing, and a historic paid media campaign, it’s a winning approach.”