ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Here we are, less than a month away from Election Day. And Vice President Harris is sitting down for a number of high-profile interviews this week - "60 Minutes" tonight; tomorrow, "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," "The View" and "The Howard Stern Show." This is after she spoke yesterday with podcaster Alex Cooper on her popular show, "Call Her Daddy." NPR's Elena Moore is here to talk about this strategy. Hey there.
ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: Hey.
SHAPIRO: Why is Harris suddenly doing this slew of interviews right now?
MOORE: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, well, the clock is ticking. I mean, we are political nerds, but...
SHAPIRO: Speak for yourself.
MOORE: (Laughter) OK, I am a political nerd, but a lot of folks around the country are, you know, starting to really tune in on the upcoming election. Early voting has started in a lot of places, so Harris is trying to reach as many potential voters as possible, and these are some of the most popular entertainment and news programs in the country. And, you know, the Harris campaign says that they are trying to purposefully go on platforms that cater to a wide variety of audiences.
I mean, take CBS' "60 Minutes" tonight. You know, it's been around a while. It's traditionally got an older audience. But, you know, then Harris also appeared on Alex Cooper's podcast that aired yesterday, and it's super-popular among Americans under 35 and especially younger women.
SHAPIRO: Yeah, "60 Minutes" often focuses on politics, but "Call Her Daddy" more often talks about things like sex positivity and relationships.
MOORE: Yeah.
SHAPIRO: Why did Harris go there?
MOORE: Well, Harris wants to nail down support among young Americans, and that's Alex Cooper's audience. It's also, you know, a pretty politically divided audience. You know, nearly half of them identify as Democratic, a quarter as Republican and 20% as independent, according to data NPR obtained from Edison Research. And that broadly tracks with young people as a whole when polled on party affiliation.
And also, the largest portion of Cooper's listeners live in the South, which I found interesting. So this was an opportunity for Harris - you know, the Harris campaign to potentially speak to younger folks she hasn't reached elsewhere, which could be crucial given how important young people may be to her chances this fall.
SHAPIRO: And southern states like Georgia and...
MOORE: Right.
SHAPIRO: ...North Carolina. So a lot of these appearances Harris has lined up are on more entertainment-based programs, which sounds like a familiar strategy. Where have we seen this before?
MOORE: In many ways, it's not unique. Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush went on talk shows. Plus, former President Barack Obama also appeared on the popular online program "Between Two Ferns" hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis. But what's more striking to me this election season is both campaigns are putting an emphasis on reaching audiences outside of traditional mainstream media and on social media. And as we have previously reported on NPR, former President Donald Trump has appeared with a number of influencers platforms over the past few months and sat down for podcast interviews that have pretty large male audiences.
SHAPIRO: Vice President Harris has been criticized for not doing a lot of extensive sit-down interviews with mainstream media. How does that strategy compare to Trump?
MOORE: Well, the Harris campaign pushes off that critique, especially given the week that they have. Plus, you know, they argue that Trump's slew of media appearances are largely with outlets that are more friendly to him. That said, you know, some of Harris' interviews have been friendly, too. There was, you know, little to no pushback from Cooper on her podcast. And though we could see more of that tonight on "60 Minutes," some of the hosts of "The View" and, of course, Stephen Colbert are known for their support of Democrats.
SHAPIRO: I suppose we should mention that NPR has interview requests out to both Harris and Trump, and we would welcome either of them here. That's NPR's Elena Moore. Thank you.
MOORE: Thanks, Ari. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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