When speaking at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Alex Cooper of Call Her Daddy said that while she “didn’t want to technically get into politics,” she recognized “there was a larger conversation that was directly impacting my audience.”
Cooper confirmed that both President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris‘ teams reached out before the election. “We had a Zoom call with Trump’s team,” said the host. “I wasn’t on it. I was like, ‘Let me know how it goes.’”
The podcaster explained that the possibility of venturing into politics sparked her interest as she’s a “very competitive person.” “I’m like, how do we keep ramping this up?” she continued. “Joe Rogan has a conversation. He knows his audience. I know my audience, and it’s a bunch of women looking for someone to advocate for them every single day.”
Ultimately, Cooper interviewed the Democratic presidential nominee in an episode that aired in October. During their conversation, Harris and Cooper discussed women’s rights, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and abortion bans.
And while Cooper acknowledged the pushback from some of her audience when discussing abortion, the host doubled down on her decision during the summit. “I understand people are like, ‘Oh God, you’re gonna focus the whole time on abortion.’ Yeah, I am. Because it’s not about abortion, it’s about women’s rights to their body.” She added, “I thought, ‘Why not have on someone that could potentially have a huge impact on our country?’”
Cooper’s remarks on Wednesday echoed her thoughts prior to her discussion with Harris. In the intro before the Call Her Daddy episode, Cooper said that she “went back and forth” on whether or not to address politics or have politicians on her podcast, but concluded she felt “the conversation I know I’m qualified to have is the one surrounding women’s bodies and how we are treated and valued in this country.”
She also made it clear that it wasn’t a “one-sided conversation,” and that if Trump was willing “to have a meaningful, in-depth conversation about women’s rights in this country,” he would be “welcome on Call Her Daddy anytime.”
