Last night, the highly anticipated Call Her Daddy episode featuring Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris was unleashed on the world.
The discussion was wide-ranging, with host Alex Cooper asking Kamala Harris about the daily issues plaguing us all (overcoming doubt, staying resilient) to delving into key policy issues like reproductive rights and the economic limitations that young people face.
“When people tell you no, when people look at you and doubt you, what does that ignite in you?” Cooper asked, early on in the episode. Harris replied that it’s a word she’s heard many times through the course of her career, particularly as a young woman starting out in politics. “I’ve been told you know, at one point, you’re too young. I’ve been told, no one like you has ever done that before, oh they’re not ready for you — oh and this is the one that kills me, it’s going to be a lot of hard work. Right, as though we don’t like hard work. And here is my response: I don’t hear no. I don’t hear no. And I urge all of the daddy gang, don’t hear no. Just don’t hear it.”
It’s just one of the limitations that young people, particularly young women, face when navigating the world — be it professional life, family life, or simply the world at large. Cooper and Harris then delved into one of the biggest challenges that Americans now face, the federally protected right to abortion that was lost after the fall of Roe v. Wade, and what has happened in the aftermath.
Harris outlined the realities for women, the majority of whom are already mothers when they receive abortion care, and the many hurdles they face to receive care. “Here is the thing, you don’t have to abandon your faith or deeply held beliefs to agree, the government shouldn’t be telling her what to do. A bunch of these guys up in these state capitals are writing these decisions because they somehow have decided that they are in a better position to tell you what’s in your best interest than you are to know what’s in your own best interest. It’s outrageous,” Harris said.
Harris further critiqued former President Donald Trump’s stance on women’s rights and reproductive freedom, particularly following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, hitting back against Trump's false claim at last month's presidential debate that some states allow post-birth abortions.
"That is not happening anywhere in the United States. It is not happening, and it's a lie — it's a bald-faced lie that he is suggesting," she said. "It's not happening anywhere. This guy is full of lies."
Harris also delved into the broader implications for access to essential healthcare, referencing her visit to a Planned Parenthood clinic, in which she was the first sitting Vice President or President to visit a reproductive health clinic in American history.
“It’s [also] about IVF treatments and access, it’s about access to contraception which is very much at risk with these folks,” Harris said. “Reproductive health clinics, do you know what those clinics also do? They do paps, they do breast cancer screenings, they do HIV testing, and they are having to close in many places with these bans. So think about the fact that for anyone who has gone to one of these clinics you understand it is sometimes the most trusted place where people receive that kind of health care because they walk into those places that are generally staffed by people who create a safe place for people to come in without judgement… and many of them are having to close because of these laws.”
Cooper went on to note to Harris that, while many Gen Z and Millennial people are interested in starting families, one in four say they can’t do so because of financial limitations.
Harris outlined solutions that may ease the financial burden on young people: housing affordability, increasing tax credits, and reducing young people’s debt. “We need to increase the housing supply, so part of my plan is to work with home builders in the private sector to create tax incentives to build, by the end of my first term, 3 million more housing units. Second piece is $25,000 down payment assistance for first time home buyers because a big issue in terms of the barrier to being a homeowner is just having enough to actually put that down payment down, to get your foot in the door,” Harris said.
“Student loan debt is a huge issue and to your point, it’s a barrier to people being able to even think about starting a family, buying a home, and we just need to give people relief. Part of the work that we’ve done, when I’ve been Vice President, is to forgive student loan debt for millions of people by this point, I think over 5 million, including doubling the amount of student loan forgiveness for public servants like nurses and teachers and firefighters, but we have to do more.”
