'Call Her Daddy,' 'The Howard Stern Show,' '60 Minutes': How accurate was Kamala Harris' media tour?

Since entering the presidential race in July, Vice President Kamala Harris sat for relatively few  interviews with media outlets, opting instead for rallies with scripted speeches. 

That changed this week.

In a few days' span, she did interviews with the hard-hitting network newsmagazine, CBS News’ "60 Minutes," ABC’s morning talkfest "The View" and CBS’ "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." 

She also spoke with SiriusXM host Howard Stern and Alex Cooper of "Call Her Daddy," a popular podcast for younger women. On Oct. 11, Harris is slated to appear at a town hall hosted by Spanish-language broadcaster Univision. (Former President Donald Trump’s Univision town hall was postponed.)

The media tour reflected Harris’ response to criticism that she’s avoiding the press and her campaign’s desire to reach specific voters. In some of the interviews, notably "60 Minutes," Harris fielded tough questions on thorny policy issues, including immigration and the economy. In others, including "Call Her Daddy" and "The View," the interviewers were less confrontational, allowing her space to expound on her priority topics, such as abortion and health care.

Here is a flavor of what Harris said during her appearances on this wide range of outlets, along with fact-checks.

Oct. 7, Bill Whitaker of "60 Minutes" peppered Harris with question after question on a range of tough topics, including the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies, its ability to influence Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Harris’ changing policy stances on issues such as fracking. He often had multiple follow-ups when he wasn’t satisfied with her answer.

On the economy, Harris said, "We now have historic low unemployment in America among all groups of people," which we rated Half True because unemployment for several groups has risen modestly since hitting lows in 2022 or 2023.

She also claimed that the Biden-Harris administration has "cut the flow of fentanyl by half," but gave no more details.

Whitaker also asked for more details about the gun Harris owns; she said it was a Glock pistol and that she got it because she was in law enforcement, as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general.

On Oct. 8, Harris appeared live on "The View," ABC’s daytime talk show that has often treated Democratic politicians warmly. 

The hosts listened as Harris touted the accomplishments of President Joe Biden’s administration and railed against Trump.

The hosts nodded as she said Trump once said he would "terminate the Constitution," a claim we have rated True. In 2022, Trump wrote on Truth Social that election fraud could be the basis for the "termination" of rules in the U.S. Constitution. There is no mechanism for the "termination" of constitutional rules because of undesired election results.

Harris was asked whether she would have done something differently from Biden over the past four years. In a response that played into Republican messaging critical of Biden, Harris initially said, "There is not a thing that comes to mind." She later said that she would appoint a Republican to the Cabinet.

The podcast "Call Her Daddy" largely focuses on issues that interest young women. 

Cooper opened her show by explaining why she wanted to speak with Harris. "Let's be real, I'm probably not the one to be having the fracking conversation," Cooper said. "But the conversation I know I am qualified to have is the one surrounding women's bodies and how we are treated and valued in this country." (Cooper said she had also invited Trump to join her for an episode.)

Over about 40 minutes, Harris discussed her upbringing and values, along with women’s health issues, including abortion.

Harris highlighted restrictive abortion laws that have been enacted since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and she detailed the logistical hurdles that women — especially women living in the South — often face when seeking abortions.

Harris repeated a True claim that 1 in 3 U.S. women of reproductive age live in a state with an abortion ban. There are 65 million to 75 million U.S. women of reproductive age. Of those, over 25 million live in one of the 18 states that outlaw abortion outright, or ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, when many women’t don’t yet know they’re pregnant.

Harris also criticized Trump for appointing three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe and said his more recent attempts to soften his abortion stance are dishonest.

"This is the same guy who said that women should be punished for having abortions?" she asked.

Trump did say this, but Harris left out that he said it in 2016 and walked back the comment the same day, amid criticism. Trump clarified that he thought doctors, not women, should be punished for performing outlawed abortions.

On Oct. 8, Harris sat down with Stern, whose longstanding shock-jock persona has more recently morphed into a friendly interlocutor for Democrats, including Biden.

In the interview, Stern and Harris shared their appreciation for the late singer Prince and breakfast cereal. (She likes raisin bran and Special K.) Stern also gave Harris a chance to discuss her law enforcement background.

Harris repeated several attacks on Trump, saying he told Americans to put "bleach in their blood" during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve rated similar claims Mostly False, because Trump didn’t explicitly recommend ingesting a disinfectant such as bleach, instead expressing interest in exploring whether disinfectants could be applied to a coronavirus infection site inside the body, such as the lungs.

Stern gave Harris an opening to criticize this year’s Supreme Court decision that confers broad immunity from prosecution to U.S. presidents, which would most immediately aid Trump if he were to win reelection.

"This is a guy who has said he'll be a dictator on Day 1, said he would weaponize the Department of Justice, take away the independence of the Department of Justice, and put his loyalists in," Harris said. This is largely accurate; Trump has often talked about how he would use the Justice Department to indict his opponents should he win back the White House. Trump also said he would be a dictator if reelected, though he said it would only be for one day.

For more than half a century, late night TV has been a destination for presidential candidates, going back to the 1960s, when Democrat John F. Kennedy appeared on "The Tonight Show" when Jack Paar was host.  

On Oct. 8, Colbert devoted most of his hourlong show to Harris. She criticized Trump and cracked open Miller High Life beers with the host.

In what appears to have been a cleanup attempt on her remarks from "The View," Harris responded to a question about how she’d be different from Biden by saying to audience laughs, "I’m obviously not Joe Biden. So that would be one change. … But also, I think it’s important to say, with 28 days to go, I’m not Donald Trump."

Harris also repeated a talking point she said on "60 Minutes," that teachers and othe middle-class Americans are paying a higher tax rate than billionaires. We have rated similar claims False, because they understate what billionaires typically pay under current law and overstate what middle-class Americans pay.