Politics

Harris attacked MAGA misogyny head-on in ‘Call Her Daddy’ interview

Published

2 years ago

November 11, 2024

Harris attacked MAGA misogyny head-on in ‘Call Her Daddy’ interview

Kamala Harris sat for an interview on the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy,” for an episode that was released over the weekend. The podcast, helmed by host Alex Cooper, is known for being particularly popular with young women.

The interview was part of the Democratic presidential campaign’s ongoing strategy of using sit-downs with nontraditional media sources to spread its messaging to targeted groups. Harris recently did an interview on “All the Smoke,” a sports-focused podcast known for its popularity among men of color. On Tuesday, she will be interviewed by Howard Sterna longtime shock jock with a large male audience.

The podcast, helmed by host Alex Cooper, is known for being particularly popular with young women.

Trump also has gone on a tour of nontraditional media, though his podcast-heavy schedule has seemed structured almost entirely to shore up his support with men (albeit in some pretty juvenile ways). Harris’ “Call Her Daddy” interview was the antithesis of that.

Where Trump and his movement have embraced the chauvinism of the 19th and 20th century and obsessed over “transwives ” — women defined by their roles as homemakers and caretakers — the Democratic candidate spoke to the podcast’s massive audience of women and encouraged them to define themselves.

Harris said her mom had taught her and her sister “the importance of us being able to express how we were feeling,” that they “had agency” in how their lives played out, and that they ought to “figure out how you can take charge of a moment.”

When Cooper asked Harris about Trump’s thinly veiled sexist attacks, in which he has called her “crazy, weak, fake and dumb,” the VP replied: “I think it’s really important not to let other people define you.”

At one point, the conversation shifted to the crisis of domestic and sexual violence against women. Cooper said many of her listeners have described the shame and the terror they feel about coming forward, but Harris — a former prosecutor — told listeners not to “quietly suffer” and advised them to “tell someone that you trust.”

And when Cooper asked about how we can make the country safer for women, Harris did an effective job of explaining how women’s economic independence factors into the equation. She said:

When a woman — and, in particular, if she has children — if she is economically reliant on her abuser, she’s less likely to leave. Because most women will endure whatever personal, physical pain they must in order to make sure their kids have a roof over their head, or food. So one of the ways that we know that women are able to walk away from abuse — and there are many layers to her being able to do that — but one of them is: Does she have the economic freedom to be able to do that? Right? So one of the ways that we know we can uplift the ability of women to have choices is uplift the ability of women to have economic health and well-being.

This narrative about empowering women economically runs counter to the GOP’s attack on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that can assist women in the workplace.

Harris also spoke about the impact of abortion bans, describing the harrowing reality of women who are forced to travel out of state to receive reproductive care — assuming they even have the money and means to do so.

And she attacked conservatives’ arcane view of women when asked to address Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ claim that Harris “doesn’t have anything keeping her humble” because she does not have biological children. (The vice president, of course, has two stepchildren.)

“I don’t think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who, one, are not aspiring to be humble,” Harris said of Sanders. “Two, a whole lot of women out here who have a lot of love in their life, family in their life and children in their life, and I think it’s really important for women to lift each other up.”

The interview was essentially a message to young women that they don’t have to accept the MAGA movement’s restrictive roles for them — and that the Harris campaign supports them leading more self-determined lives.

Ya’han Jones

Ja’han Jones is The ReidOut Blog writer. He’s a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include “Black Hair Defined” and the “Black Obituary Project.”

Politics

‘We are winning elections’: Bernie Sanders on Democrats’ progressive wing

Published

13 hours ago

September 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

‘We are winning elections’: Bernie Sanders on Democrats’ progressive wing

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Politics

Trump wants the Postal Service to radically overhaul mail voting. But ballots are already going out.

Published

2 days ago

September 4, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump’s controversial demands for the Postal Service to overhaul and monitor millions of mail ballots hit another snag on Friday, when North Carolina became the first state in the nation to start sending out ballots for the November election.

In March, Trump signed the initial executive order, which aimed to crack down on mail-in voting — which he regularly alleges without evidence is a vector for widespread voter fraud — and assert an unprecedented amount of federal control over the upcoming elections.

Under this order and the subsequent rule drafted by the U.S. Postal Service, the USPS would refuse to deliver ballots to states that failed to provide lists of eligible mail voters or did not adhere to an approved envelope design style.

Since then, the order has faced legal challenges, and it remains paused by a federal judge’s orders. But the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the new rule to proceed — something current and former election officials from both parties say would be both a legal nightmare that oversteps the federal government’s traditional role in elections and a logistical one that is happening far too close to the November election to implement even if they agreed with it.

“Why the hell are you rocking the boat this late in the game?” said Stephen Richer, a former Republican recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona, who has clashed with Trump allies for defending the security of the 2020 election.

Still, election officials are trying to project a sense of normalcy for voters, particularly in North Carolina, which serves as a test of whether established local election systems can operate normally amid intensifying federal scrutiny.

“I want to emphasize this point because there has been a lot of outside noise: Our county workers are ready,” Sam Hayes, a longtime Republican lawyer in the state and now executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said in a Thursday afternoon press conference.

He added, “All we can do is what we’re doing. … It is business as usual as far as I’m concerned.”

Despite the legal challenges, the Trump administration has continued to press the courts to let it proceed. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to lift an order from a Massachusetts judge which temporarily prevents the USPS from enforcing their rule. It is the second time the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to step in, after winning an earlier victory in which the high court dismissed an earlier hold on the rule as premature.

“The uncertainty is coming from a single activist judge who continues to try and obstruct President Trump from implementing commonsense measures to protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans vote in American elections,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement. “These safeguards for mail ballots were proposed months ago giving election officials ample time to prepare for the 2026 election.”

The USPS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Election officials said that if the rule goes into effect this close to November, it would cause chaos and place added strain on the USPS and election officials. And an anonymous federal whistleblower said in a report circulated earlier this week by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) that the USPS was moving forward in a “secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed process” to try to implement the new system ahead of the midterms.

In the coming weeks, states across the country will follow North Carolina’s lead. Nine other states will begin mailing ballots in the next two weeks, according to a tracker from the National Conference of State Legislatures — with the biggest day for mailing coming 45 days before the election in mid-September.

“It would be so outrageous to try to let this go into effect. It’s hard to even imagine,” said Ben Hovland, a senior fellow for democracy at the progressive think tank Center for American Progress and former Democratic commissioner with the Election Assistance Commission who was fired by Trump in July.

He added, “It would be a break-glass moment for our democracy.”

The rule would require meticulous changes to ballot handling and tracking practices that Hovland said are impossible to implement before Election Day in about two months, effectively disenfranchising millions of voters.

“Ballots are printed. Envelopes are printed. You can go on and on with all the practical reasons that show that implementing something like this at this time is not feasible,” he said.

Richer said he doubted the new rules would bring about more security. Even if the USPS received lists from the states, according to the postal service’s final rule, it would not do any additional vetting of the list, Richer said.

“It’s just that the mail ballots have to be on that list, and I don’t see what added value for election integrity that does,” he said.

He added, “It creates a lot of administrative burden, and I think it creates a lot more opportunity for error.”

While a decision looms in the courts, election officials and experts cast doubt on the likelihood of the rules going into effect before November. A more pressing issue, they said, is the confusion and uncertainty surrounding mail-in ballots, which could subvert and change the behaviors of voters.

“It makes things seem messy or difficult, and it can dissuade people from participating or coming out to vote,” Hovland said. “It certainly also helps establish a pretext to make bad faith claims about election results.”

Hovland said that while none of these claims of voter fraud are backed up with facts, they could cause Americans to lose faith in the voting process.

Still, some current officials contended they were well-prepared for whatever happens — and that they’d be able to communicate effectively with voters who have become increasingly buffeted by dramatic rhetoric about the once-unmentioned nuts and bolts of actually running an election.

“There’s always a lot of noise around elections, that’s not going to change, and it can be hard to differentiate that from what’s actually going on on the ground,” said Jason Tyson, director of external affairs for the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

As Election Day approaches, Tyson and election officials said they urge voters to check their registration status and make a plan to vote.

He added, “I think we’ve got a really well-trained, solid staff who are ready, and who have gone through all of the checks and balances and points of contact that we need to do to get to where we are.”

Politics

Missouri Supreme Court pauses GOP gerrymander, likely netting Democrats 1 House seat

Published

3 days ago

September 3, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Missouri’s Supreme Court suspended a congressional map that state Republicans drew last year that would have netted the GOP an additional House seat, likely keeping the seat in Democratic hands this November.

The court ruled unanimously on Thursday that a referendum petition organized by Democrats to put the new congressional maps to a vote was incorrectly deemed insufficient by Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, and ordered that the gerrymandered map be put to a vote in the fall.

Voters will ultimately decide the fate of the new lines in November. But in the meantime, it cannot be in place for the midterms, meaning Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s original Kansas City-based district will likely stay in Democrats’ hands this fall.