13 things we learned from Kamala Harris’ most revelatory interview yet
By Reid J. Epstein
Washington: For more than an hour, Vice President Kamala Harris and radio host Howard Stern bantered about the state of the country, former president Donald Trump, Harris’ cereal and workout preferences, and her favourite musicians and race-car drivers.
It was the longest uninterrupted interview Harris has done since becoming the Democratic nominee, and while it did not delve much into what she would do as president, it was the most revelatory about her as a person.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, arrives at LaGuardia Airport in Queens.Credit: Dave Sanders/The New York Times
Stern is not a journalist, and he said multiple times that he supported Harris for president, but he is a skilled inquisitor who managed to extract an array of fresh details about her life.
Here is a (perhaps incomplete) list of new things we learned about Harris.
She is angry about the new reporting on Trump, Putin and COVID-19 testing
Harris seemed apoplectic at the idea — reported in a new book by Bob Woodward — that when Trump was in office, he sent rare COVID-19 test machines to President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
US radio host Howard Stern.Credit: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
“This guy who was president of the United States is sending them to Russia to a murderous dictator for his own personal use,” she said. “This person who wants to be president again who secretly is helping out an adversary when the American people are dying by the hundreds every day and in need of relief.”
She could not believe Trump’s behaviour at their debate
During their debate last month, Trump uncorked his false claim that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating their neighbours’ pets. Harris had been just as stunned as everyone watching, she said.
“There were a couple of moments at least in the debate where it was surreal, honestly,” she said. “This was a very serious moment to earn the votes of the American people, and he was talking about things that were factually untrue and quite ridiculous.”
She is proud of putting ‘a lot of people in jail’
“I have put a lot of people in jail” might be a bumper-sticker slogan for a law-and-order candidate. And in some ways, that is how Harris is aiming to brand herself in the campaign’s final month. She discussed at length her time as a prosecutor — and made a strikingly blunt acknowledgment of the outcome of many of her cases.
She is all too aware of the threats against her life
Harris said she had faced death threats dating to her time as a local prosecutor, though she declined to speak about them. “I refuse to live in fear of the bad guys,” she said.
She thinks Trump is ‘getting punked’ by dictators
Harris made clear she was simpatico with President Joe Biden on foreign policy, especially when it came to backing Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
“I grew up in the neighbourhood,” she said. “Some would say you’re getting punked if you stand in favor of somebody who’s an adversary over your friends on principles that we all agree on.”
She won’t reveal her cabinet choices unless and until she wins
Stern predicted that the Republican whom Harris has pledged to place in her cabinet would end up being Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming congresswoman who last week appeared at a campaign rally with her in Wisconsin.
Harris would not take the bait.
“I gotta win, Howard,” she said. “I gotta win. I gotta win. And listen, but the thing about Liz Cheney, let me just say, she’s remarkable.”
She told Stern that talking to him was a form of therapy
Stern noted that it remained taboo for national politicians to acknowledge that they seek the sort of therapy that millions of Americans rely on in their daily lives. He asked Harris if she was talking to someone to cope with the immense pressure of running for president.
“This is my form of therapy, right now,” she said. She went on to describe her longtime and robust circle of friends, her family and others on whom she counts for emotional support, then offered a bit of self-reflection about those she does not engage with.
“I choose,” she said, “not to have mean people in my life.”
She likes Formula One racing
Harris is a fan of the Formula One car racing circuit, which has long been popular in Europe but has gained a foothold in the United States after a Netflix series ignited new interest.
Her favourite driver: “Lewis Hamilton, of course.”
She is mildly dismissive of her husband’s musical tastes
Harris ribbed her husband, Doug Emhoff, for being a fan of English pop band Depeche Mode, but said the artists they agreed on included Prince and U2.
U2 perform at the Sphere in Las Vegas.Credit: Stufish Entertainment Architects
“He and I have very different musical tastes, my husband and I,” Harris said. “Depeche Mode, that’s him. I grew up kind of hip-hop.”
She saw U2 play at the Sphere in Las Vegas
Harris took Emhoff to see U2 play at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Harris seemed positively giddy in describing the venue — which she warned should be attended sober.
“Oh my God, have you been to the Sphere?” she asked Stern. “Everyone should go in with a clear head.”
Stern replied: “Basically, don’t be high.”
“Correct,” Harris said. “It’s a lot. There’s a lot of visual stimulation.”
She starts her morning on an elliptical machine, watching Morning Joe
Harris said her morning workout routine typically involved 30 to 45 minutes on an elliptical machine, during which she watches Morning Joe, the anti-Trump MSNBC show that is also a favourite of Biden.
She eats Raisin Bran and Special K for breakfast
In 2018, Harris told New York magazine that her breakfast routine involved low-sugar, generic raisin bran. She told Stern that she still liked the cereal — just not every morning.
“So I don’t eat Raisin Bran every morning,” she said. “You asked me what was my favourite cereal. I would put it right up there, OK?”
She also said she enjoyed Special K, a choice she admitted would “be obnoxious”.
She enjoyed Maya Rudolph’s impression of her
Earlier, in an appearance on The View, Harris delivered a full laugh when shown Maya Rudolph’s impersonation of her from Saturday Night Live. The vice president reacted as if she had not seen Rudolph play her before.
To Stern, Harris praised the actor’s work.
“Well, I just saw it, actually, and it was funny,” she said. “I am a huge fan of Maya Rudolph, so I think she put a lot of time into doing the piece and the character.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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