Kamala Harris's media whirlwind in recent days may not do much to affect the tight race against Donald Trump.
Still, of all the vice president's meetings over the past week, one very Bill Clinton moment from last night at the Univision town hall may prove to be the most memorable in capturing voters' attention.
“She connected, she humanized herself with the way she listened more and talked less to that poor woman,” a prominent Hollywood publicist said of Harris’ interaction with a tearful Ivett Castillo, who told Harris and viewers about the event moderated by Enrique Acevedo in prime time. of the death of his undocumented mother six weeks ago and of the shadows in which the “immigrant subgroup” lives.
“The viral moment, when the vice president approached her after the town hall ended, is more important than anything else, anything that was said last night,” the publicist said.
Harris greatly increased her media presence last week after some criticism that Trump was too dominant in the conversation.
Many Hollywood supporters were pleased with its recent media moves, but still wonder about the impact on a media environment that is in a perpetual battle for attention. With Trump refusing to hold another debate, there are no longer any major events that can capture a mass audience.
“She has to break down the news silos in these last few weeks, that’s how you reach the undecided,” observes a veteran Democratic political operative of the estimated less than 10% of voters who have not yet chosen a candidate. “The network interviews, the podcasts, all of that is good, but it's the unexpected situations, like calling The Weather Channel, having a beer with Colbert, that's the bottom line.”
Harris's agenda was a mix between mainstream media and more apolitical avenues.
Mathew Littman, a former Biden speechwriter who leads a group of creative professionals engaged in Democratic politics called The Working Group, said Harris' visit to Call her daddy podcast and his meeting with Howard Stern are what the campaign should be doing.
“There’s a strategy to these things,” he said. “These complaints from the old media [that Harris is not engaging with them] they are absolutely ridiculous.” That reflects where the voters she needs to reach are now, he said.
“Not only do I think it’s a good idea, we should have done this a long time ago,” he said.
He noted that Trump has given few challenging interviews to traditional media; his appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists was one of few. “Did he do something where no one asked him a hard question? The truth is, you don’t have to do that anymore,” he said.
The goal is to reach voters who may not be paying attention or who are still persuaded.
THE Call her daddy podcast, for example, is the second largest podcast on Spotify and, according to Edison Research, has an audience where 76% are under 35 years old. Host Alex Cooper also said his listeners are politically diverse. What's more, Cooper has a social media presence that has amplified Harris' appearance, including a behind-the-scenes post on TikTok.
“The interview with Stern was the highlight, it felt very natural,” said a regular, well-heeled Democratic donor of the vice president’s press visit and hour-plus chat with Stern, who is openly anti-Trump. “But it’s still a process,” he added of Harris’ effort to reach the undecided groups she needs in early voting and on Election Day.
“Maybe a Taylor Swift rally with [Bruce] Springsteen could stop by, some social media event, whatever it is, she needs a surprise in October that will attract persuadable voters,” a media executive told Deadline, noting two of the vice president’s biggest celebrities.
Furthermore, in the Harris campaign's pursuit of non-legacy media outlets, it has become evident in the tone, language, and results that this is a different kind of election in terms of standards of conduct and association. “She had the courage to play Stern, who the next day did a gay-themed Cocktober play, and Call her daddy, which is so cheeky,” said a longtime political and media consultant. “We are past the days of negative reaction to these things.”
Additionally, as Deadline exclusively reported, Harris' VP nominee Governor Tim Walz recorded a session on Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett's bromance podcast. No intelligence which is scheduled to be posted in the next week or so. He is also scheduled to appear in Fox News Sunday this weekend, for the second week in a row.
To that end, a Hollywood source believes Trump “failed this week” as a guest on the comedy podcast Flagrant and insulting Motor City at the Detroit Economic Club. Still, despite the media action, the VP's poll numbers have not changed nationally, and some key states are seeing Trump's numbers rise.
The Trump campaign did not respond to Deadline's request for comment on the former president's and Harris' media stops.
Trump has tried to mute the impact of Harris' appearances. He refused to sit with 60 minutesbut after Harris' interview was published Monday night, he cried over an edit the magazine made to one of his responses. News magazines routinely edit interviews, but Trump claimed they were trying to help Harris and, reflecting his previous attacks on the press, he called for CBS to lose its broadcast license.
Related: FCC Chairman Condemns Donald Trump's Calls for CBS to Lose Licenses on '60 Minutes' Interview with Kamala Harris
Later in the week, after Harris' Univision town hall, Trump's allies quickly spread the false claim that she had help from a teleprompter. Univision's Acevedo debunked the claim shortly after the town hall aired, but it continued to be repeated by figures like Vivek Ramaswamy and media outlets like Newsmax.
(LR) Charlamagne Tha God, Harris Faulkner and Donald Trump
The Tyler twins; Fox News; Getty Images
Highlighted by a scheduled appearance in Detroit next week with the perpetually blunt radio host Charlamagne tha God, Harris will continue her lineup of media hits. An Oct. 23 town hall on CNN with Anderson Cooper in Pennsylvania — rather than a now-dead debate with Trump — is also on the calendar.
As Harris ramped up her media outreach after receiving criticism for a dearth of interviews, her campaign highlighted that Trump has largely chosen friendly media outlets. “After giving up 60 minutes and doing 27 consecutive interviews with conservative media, it is unfortunately clear that Trump prefers to retreat into safe spaces and avoid real questions about his harmful plans and failed divisive leadership,” Harris campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement on Thursday.
Trump has not yet agreed to his own CNN town hall, but he will hold a pre-recorded Fox News town hall in Georgia on October 15 with Harris Faulkner and an all-female audience.
Still, some political veterans say that no matter how well-funded and strong Harris's campaign is, the vice president needs to go into the lion's den in the final days of the race to attract the voters she needs, energize sex voters male on the fence and slapping down Trump in front of his MAGA base.
“If she really wanted to show that she’s fearless and ready to go, she would go on Fox with Bret Baier one-on-one and maybe even Megyn Kelly,” said a Democratic source, adding that the HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher could be another good attack on more conservative, male-centric territory.
“In such a close election, this is how you win, surprise attacks and direct interactions with voters, like that Univision town hall,” exclaims a media executive. “Harris has to turn the tables to win the game.”
