In a dwell interview on “The Howard Stern Show” on Tuesday afternoon, Vice President Kamala Harris repeatedly sought to reassure host and supporter Howard Stern that there’s nonetheless hope for the nation’s future.
Stern’s hourlong dialog with the Democratic presidential nominee on his Sirius XM present adopted the informal, stream-of-consciousness type the seasoned broadcaster has used with numerous different politicians and celebrities. In a nod to Harris’ love of the late pop star Prince, Stern performed her in with “Batdance,” prompting a short dialogue of her and husband Doug Emhoff’s musical tastes — Emhoff is extra of a Depeche Mode man, however Prince is one case the place the couple overlap — that gave solution to pleasant queries about Harris’ emotions about her portrayal on “Saturday Night Live,” the psychological burden of her candidacy, Harris’ upbringing and early profession, the stakes of the race, and her insurance policies.
The most typical theme, nevertheless, was Stern expressing some mixture of disbelief and horror on the prospect of a second Donald Trump presidency, and Harris responding with on-message optimism about People’ goodness and her dedication to do all it takes to win.
When Harris mentioned her recommendation to younger folks about cultivating a supportive “inner circle” of buddies, Stern introduced it again to the state of the nation.
“It seems like the country is so angry right now,” Stern mentioned.
“We should remember the good,” Harris responded. “And I don’t mean to sound naive, but we have to remember the good — with so many hardworking, good people who I have the great experience of meeting every day.”
At one other level within the interview, Stern requested Harris whether or not she would stay within the nation if Trump received.
“He admires strong men, and he gets played by them because he thinks that they’re his friends, and they are manipulating him.”
– Vice President Kamala Harris
“Howard, I’m doing everything I can to make sure he does not win,” Harris replied.
Stern pressed her once more on the hypothetical, and Harris refused to chew, pivoting as an alternative to the help she has obtained from greater than 200 former Republican presidential aides.
“We are building a coalition of people that are Republicans, independents, Democrats, libertarians, all stripes of Americans who are coming together to say, ‘You know what? This election is about putting country before party,’” Harris mentioned.
Following Stern’s lament about his poor expertise with the U.S. Postal Service throughout the Trump administration, Harris once more circled again to patriotic hopefulness and perseverance.
“But here’s the thing, let’s not throw up our hands. Let’s roll up our sleeves, because this is our country. And you know what? If you love our country, we gotta fight for our country,” she mentioned. “We can’t take our country for granted. I love our country. I love the American people.”
Towards the top of the interview, Stern fretted about the way forward for freedom the world over if Trump is reelected. “If the lights go out here, it’s going to be a darkness all over the world,” he predicted.
Harris returned to the optimistic prospects of the US’ present position as a world hegemon.
“Howard, we are so important to the rest of the world. We are a role model for what it means to do democracy. So we can look at other countries and our allies and our adversaries and say, ‘These are the principles that must be upheld,’” Harris mentioned. “And while we uphold these principles, we will also be the strongest economy in the world. We will have the most lethal fighting force in the world. All these things coexist, but you’ve got to have a president who appreciates and understands that.”
Harris additionally used the interview to grab on an excerpt that got here out Tuesday from Bob Woodward’s forthcoming ebook concerning the Trump presidency. The excerpt mentioned that Trump despatched COVID-19 check kits to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his private use with directions to not inform anybody. The Trump marketing campaign has vehemently denied Woodward’s declare.
“He admires strong men, and he gets played by them because he thinks that they’re his friends, and they are manipulating him,” Harris mentioned.
“Everybody was scrambling to get these kits — the tests, the COVID test kits — couldn’t get ’em, couldn’t get ’em anywhere,” she added. “And this guy who was president of the United States is sending them to Russia, to a murderous dictator for his personal use.”
Harris’ interview on “The Howard Stern Show,” which has tens of millions of listeners, is an element of a bigger media blitz that included an interview on CBS Information’ “60 Minutes” that aired Monday night, and an look on the daytime discuss present “The View” earlier Tuesday.
Jacquelyn Martin/Related Press
The Democratic nominee’s upbeat tone within the interview embodies probably the most pivotal breaks her marketing campaign has made with President Joe Biden’s. Somewhat than emphasize the darkish prospects of a second Trump time period, Harris has most well-liked to undertaking “joy” and make use of mockery to decrease Trump.
Referring to Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election, Harris mentioned, “In America, we call that a sore loser. And in this case, this is someone who has already lost, which would say that they are actually already a loser.”
Trump was as soon as a frequent visitor on Stern’s discuss present, partaking in frank — and generally misogynistic — discussions about intercourse that drew unfavourable scrutiny throughout his first presidential run.
Stern, a onetime pal of Trump’s — they attended one another’s weddings — publicly supported all of Trump’s Democratic opponents, Hillary Clinton, Biden and now Harris, and has grown more and more hostile to the previous president because the years have worn on. Stern has been open about his fears of the COVID-19 pandemic and help for vaccines, criticizing Trump’s “treasonous” dealing with of the illness. The veteran radio host interviewed Clinton in 2019 and Biden this previous Might.
“Yes, I’m voting for you, but I would also vote for that wall over there rather than” Trump, Stern advised Harris.
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Stern has retreated from his shock-jock type and off-color jokes prior to now decade and a half, however his outré humorousness nonetheless shined by way of just a few occasions throughout the Harris interview. He raved about how his mom, Rae, was “beside herself” to study Harris can be coming, earlier than joking that she wouldn’t keep in mind due to the quantity of morphine she is taking.
He additionally appeared to discourage Trump supporters from voting.
“I just want to encourage anyone who thinks similarly to me to vote. And if you don’t agree with me, do not vote,” he mentioned. “I encourage people not to vote who are thinking in the direction of Putin and all that stuff.”
