(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Kamala Harris hit the airwaves in a media blitz, a bid to amplify her campaign message and connect with voters in a tight race for the White House against Republican Donald Trump.
The Democratic presidential nominee appeared on three shows Tuesday – The View, The Howard Stern Show with the legendary radio shock-jock and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
The largely friendly appearances, which followed an interview with 60 Minutes that aired Monday, marked a media strategy shift that has seen Harris do only a handful of interviews with national outlets and draw criticism from Trump and other Republicans that she is shying away from the spotlight and tough questions.
Harris’ interviews saw a mix of policy talk that aimed to counter Republican attacks that she is a San Francisco liberal, jabs at Trump and details about her personal life. Here are the highlights:
Her Glock
During her presidential debate with Trump, Harris said she is a gun owner. While it wasn’t the first time she’s disclosed having a firearm, the comments drew attention, followed by a remark during a town hall with Oprah Winfrey where the vice president said “if someone breaks in my house, they’re getting shot.”
In her 60 Minutes interview, Harris revealed the gun she owns is a Glock. Asked if she had fired it, Harris responded: “Yes, of course I have” while laughing.
“At a shooting range,” she added.
Formula 1 Fan
In the interviews, Harris dove into some of her hobbies — including cooking and doing puzzles — sharing that she did both with her nieces the day President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed her.
Stern also asked about her fondness for Formula 1 racing.
“It’s so good. We love it, our whole family does,” Harris says, naming Lewis Hamilton as her favorite driver and lamenting his looming departure from Mercedes team.
“You should see it, you might get hooked,” she encouraged Stern.
Miller Time
Near the end of her interview with Colbert, the host brought out beers, offering Harris a can of Miller High Life, a beer first brewed in swing-state Wisconsin. Colbert told the audience they had planned the moment in advance and that was the beer the vice president had selected.
“The last time I had beer was at a baseball game with Doug, so cheers,” Harris said, referring to her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Russia, Ukraine
The vice president seized on reporting from legendary journalist Bob Woodward that alleges Trump — while in office during the height of the pandemic — secretly sent Russian President Vladimir Putin Covid-19 testing devices.
“Donald Trump has this desire to be a dictator. He admires strong men,” Harris told Stern. “Some would say you’re getting punked if you stand in favor of somebody who’s an adversary over your friends.”
The Trump campaign Tuesday pushed back on the book’s allegations, saying “none of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true” and accusing him of bias.
In the earlier 60 Minutes interview, Harris said she would not negotiate one-on-one with Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine, insisting Kyiv be part of any talks.
But the vice president also declined to say if she would support Ukraine’s push to join NATO if elected, insisting she would address that question at a later point.
‘Capitalist’ Candidate
The interviews offered Harris the opportunity to counter Republican criticism that she is too far to the left for American voters — which she seized on when talking about firing a gun at the range and by repeatedly calling herself “a capitalist,” a label she has embraced when courting business leaders and donors.
While her economic agenda received little attention in the interviews, Harris pledged to push for Medicare to cover expenses related to in-home health aides to better help seniors and ease burdens on working adults caring for aging parents.
“It’s about dignity for that individual. It’s about independence for that individual,” Harris said.
Her campaign didn’t offer a cost projection, but said it would be offset by expanding a program allowing Medicare to negotiate better drug prices.
Differences With Biden
Harris has walked a tightrope, trying to define herself as an agent for change while being an incumbent linked to a president whose economic policies have frustrated voters.
On The View, Harris was asked if she would change any of Biden’s decisions.
“There is not a thing that comes to mind,” she said, an answer likely to fuel Republican attacks aimed at tying her to his record. “I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact,” she added, citing capping insulin costs and investing in domestic manufacturing.
Later in the interview, she pivoted back to the question, saying she’d have a different cabinet.
“That will be one of the differences. I’m going to have a Republican in my cabinet,” Harris said. “I don’t feel burdened by letting pride get in the way of a good idea.”
Golf
Harris did detail one notable way she would be different than Biden if elected to the White House. Unlike so many of the White House’s occupants past and present — including Trump — Harris doesn’t golf.
“Doug does, I don’t,” she told Stern, referring to her husband.
“I don’t want any golfer near the White House,” Stern said. “Too much golf.”
--With assistance from Jennifer Epstein and Maxwell Adler.
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