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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