Harris says it’s ‘not the 1950s anymore’ in dismissing criticism over not having biological children

(CNN) — Kamala Harris said she feels “sorry” for Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who suggested at a town hall with former President Donald Trump last month that the vice president doesn’t have anything to keep her humble because she doesn’t have biological children.

“I feel sorry for her, and I’m going to tell you why,” Harris said on an episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast released Sunday. “Because I don’t think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who one, are not aspiring to be humble. 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, and I think it’s very important for women to lift each other up.”

Responding to Republicans who have criticized her for not having biological children, Harris told podcast host Alex Cooper, “I feel very strongly, we each have our family by blood and then we have our family by love. And I have both. And I consider it to be a real blessing.”

The Democratic presidential nominee has two stepchildren – Cole and Ella Emhoff – through her 10-year marriage to second gentleman Doug Emhoff. She detailed during the interview, which was taped on Tuesday, her “very modern family” and her relationship with her “two beautiful children,” who she noted refer to her as “Momala.”

“I love those kids to death. Family comes in many forms, and I think that increasingly, all of us understand that this is not the 1950s anymore,” Harris said.

Sanders, the Republican governor of Arkansas, said last month that her three children serve as a “permanent reminder of everything that is at stake in this country” and that “my kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”

The former Trump White House press secretary’s argument that children serve as reminders of what matters in an election, which alluded to the vice president’s lack of biological kids, was reminiscent of repeated comments made by Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance. The Ohio Republican has received criticism for his past remarks that the US was being run by “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made.”

Harris’ appearance on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, which has a reputation for frank conversations about sex and relationships, comes as her campaign prioritizes booking interviews with local media and more unconventional forums. That strategy has garnered both criticism for dodging challenging interviews and praise as a savvy messaging move.

The interview marked the start of a media spree, as Harris will make appearances this week on “The View,” “The Howard Stern Show,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” a Univision town hall and CBS’ “60 Minutes.”

Harris talks abortion rights

As Harris’ campaign looks to place reproductive rights at the center of its platform, the vice president used her appearance on “Call Her Daddy” — which Spotify has billed “the most listened-to podcast by women” — to hit her opponent on an issue where she has so far held the upper hand.

During the interview, she criticized Trump for casting himself as a “protector” during a rally last month where he claimed American women won’t be “thinking about abortion” if he’s elected.

“So he, who, when he was president, hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did just as he intended,” Harris told Cooper.

Harris added: “This is the same guy that said women should be punished for having abortions. This is the same guy who uses the same kind of language he does to describe women?”

Cooper was surprised when Harris told her she became the first sitting US president or vice president to visit a reproductive health center when she went to a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic in March.

Harris also debunked false statements from the former president accusing Democrats of wanting to allow the execution of babies after birth, calling the notion a “boldface lie” and “insulting.”

“That is not happening anywhere in the United States,” Harris said, adding, “Can you imagine, he’s suggesting that women in their ninth month of pregnancy are electing to have an abortion?”

While both Trump and Vance have claimed that Democratic states are allowing such abortions, no state has passed or is passing a law that allows the execution of a baby after it is born, and killing a person after birth is illegal in every state.

CNN’s Arit John, Eva McKend, Brian Stelter and Daniel Dale contributed to this report.

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