Media frenzy in race for the White House

FRANCE 24 English

From the release of Melania Trump's autobiography, to Kamala Harris's interview on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, to Elon Musk's media push for Donald Trump, we take a look at the many different media strategies being used in the countdown to the US election. This Entre Nous aired on Paris Direct, October 8, 2024.A programme produced by Amanda Alexander, Marina Pajovic and Georgina Robertson.  Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00With just four weeks to go until the American presidential election, both Donald Trump and

00:04Kamala Harris teams are stepping up their media tours in a myriad of different ways. Solange

00:09Mougin is with me in the studio to discuss this. Solange, you're starting with the publication of

00:15Melania Trump's books. It's coming out today and it's certainly made a few headlines, hasn't it?

00:21It has. The timing of this self-titled Melania book is noteworthy and it begs the question,

00:28is this book being used as a political tool? Many critics say yes, that that is quite obvious.

00:33Now, the New York Times noted that the former first lady's grievances and views in the book,

00:38quote, sound a lot like her husband's only dressed up in couture. She paints a romantic

00:44portrait of their marriage and supports Trump in his anti-media and stolen election rhetoric.

00:50There is a notable exception though, and that has been making headlines and creating much of

00:55the buzz needed to sell the $40 book, and that is Melania's view, Melania Trump's views on

01:01abortion. While her husband appointed three Supreme Court justices that reversed the federal

01:07right to abortion, Roe v. Wade, and whilst her husband counts heavily on the ultra-conservative

01:13and anti-abortion right, Mrs. Trump says that she is pro-choice.

01:17I believe in individual freedom. I want to decide what I want to do with my body.

01:28I think I don't want government in my personal business.

01:35So what then is Melania Trump and by extension the Trump campaign doing here? Why run the risk

01:40of alienating many of their voters? Well, some analysts believe that the move shows

01:44how big the abortion issue is with this election. The Trump team fears that it could

01:49cost him much of the women's vote. Over 60% of Americans are in favor of the right to abortion

01:59in most or all cases. That is according to a Pew poll. So having Melania Trump express

02:05her pro-choice views, it could essentially sidestep, they say, the anger over the bans

02:10and bring women voters to the Trump camp. As for alienating pro-lifers, well, J.D. Vance,

02:16the VP candidate, responded to Melania Trump's views saying that, quote, she is a smart woman,

02:22but that it doesn't change their policy stances. In essence, it could be an example of say one

02:28thing, appease, and then do what you want. All the while creating a buzz for the book and bringing

02:33in money. CNN says that they refuse the demands of Melania Trump's publisher for a payment of

02:40$250,000 for an interview on the book. She went with Fox instead. As long sticking with the issue

02:48of abortion, which is certainly right up there with the economy, Kamala Harris's team has also

02:54been working very hard to try and convince female voters. Yeah, Harris is on a full-fledged media

03:00tour, which could be interpreted as her campaign worrying that they need to do more to get her out

03:06there. Or it could simply be seen as a normal final sprint. But the choices of who and where

03:11she does these interviews is quite interesting. Rather than the traditional route of political

03:16shows or newspaper interviews, she went on the sex and relationship podcast, Call Her Daddy,

03:21which personally I didn't know about. It shows my age. But it is the second most listened to podcast

03:27after the Joe Rogan Experience. Its target audience is young women. So she talked about abortion

03:33and abortion rights on it. And before that, she also went on a basketball podcast. She did a small

03:38town, a town hall with Oprah Winfrey. She also gave an interview to the longstanding 60 Minutes TV

03:47show, a more traditional outlet where she spoke to some of the show's potentially older and potentially

03:53gun-carrying voters. I have a Glock. And I've had it for quite some time. And I mean, look, Bill,

04:04my background is in law enforcement. And so there you go. Have you ever fired it? Yes.

04:13Of course I have. At a shooting range? Yes, of course I have. Now today, on Tuesday alone,

04:20Harris is expected to appear on The View, The Howard Stern Show, The Late Show. And then on

04:25Thursday, she's having a Univision town hall. All of these interviews illustrate that a shift by

04:31the Harris campaign. They're doing more unscripted TV. Many of them are softer, friendlier interviews.

04:37And this creates more media exposure for Harris. But it also runs the risk of her flubbing or

04:43having an unfortunate turn of phrase, which could go viral in either a positive or a negative way.

04:50So what about Trump in all of this? What's he been up to? Well, he's refused the 60-minute

04:55interview that Harris did and podcasts like Call Her Daddy. They say he refused their invitation.

05:02Trump has been mostly holding rallies rather than interviews and traditional sort of buzzy media

05:08stuff. He is expected to do a Univision town hall. This is a move, like Harris, to get out the Latino

05:15vote. But it will be separate from Harris's. So even if the Trump's team has shied away from the

05:22media blitz that she is now doing right now, it still has some strong tools. He does have some

05:28strong tools in his pocket. One of them is Elon Musk. And not only through his financial support

05:34or his control of Twitter, Musk spoke to Tucker Carlson saying that he is, quote, all in on Trump

05:41and that if Trump loses, he's effed. That, plus their discussion of, in my view, a very bad joke

05:47on assassinating Harris. They are the perfect ingredients to get people talking. And that is

05:52exactly what both candidates want right now. And both are using more modern ways, like influencers,

05:59like social media, to make sure that people are talking. And indeed, more than a number of

06:05podcasts in the mix as well. Thank you very much, Solange Mejan, for that.

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