US vice president Kamala Harris has responded to Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s recent criticism, which suggested Harris lacks humility because she doesn’t have biological children. Speaking during an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Harris challenged the outdated notion, celebrating her “modern family” and highlighting the evolving definition of family in today’s society.
With her remarks, Harris pushed back against traditional views, reminding listeners that family comes in many forms and that women shouldn’t be defined by whether or not they have children.
The controversy began when Sanders, during a town hall moderated for Republican candidate Donald Trump in Michigan, implied that Harris wasn’t grounded because she didn’t have children of her own. “My kids keep me humble,” Sanders remarked. “Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”
Harris, speaking on the popular podcast hosted by Alex Cooper, addressed the “outdated view”. “I don’t think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who, one, are not aspiring to be humble,” Harris said. “Two, a whole lot of women out here who have a lot of love in their life, family in their life, and children in their life.”
Harris, who is married to Doug Emhoff, shared insights into her own life, highlighting her “modern family” that includes Emhoff’s children from his first marriage, Cole and Ella, whom she affectionately calls her own. “We have our family by blood, and then we have our family by love, and I have both. I consider it a real blessing. Cole and Ella call me ‘Momala.’ We have a very modern family, and I’m also friends with my husband’s ex-wife,” Harris said
Harris’s comments come as part of a broader conversation about family and the changing roles of women. The vice president took the opportunity to underscore that today’s families no longer fit into rigid molds of the past. “This is not the 1950s anymore. Families come in all kinds of shapes and forms, and they’re family nonetheless,” she added, drawing a clear line between traditional and contemporary notions of family.
Harris also touched upon derogatory remarks made by Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, who had previously expressed disdain for what he called “childless cat ladies” running the country. Harris dismissed these comments as “mean-spirited” but took the opportunity to steer the conversation in a positive direction. She emphasized the importance of women uplifting one another, saying, “I think it’s really important for women to lift each other up.”
Her appearance on the podcast comes as Harris ramps up media outreach in the final month of her campaign against Donald Trump. The vice president’s campaign has been criticized for limited media appearances, but in the coming days, Harris is set to feature on a variety of high-profile programs, including CBS’ 60 Minutes, ABC’s The View, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Howard Stern Show.
While on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Harris and Cooper also delved into topics such as reproductive rights and Harris’s career as a prosecutor focusing on violence against women. Cooper, known for centering conversations around women’s empowerment, noted how crucial it was to discuss issues impacting women directly with the vice president, whose campaign has increasingly focused on reproductive rights and gender equality.