During flurry of media appearances, Harris proposes Medicare coverage for in-home care

With Election Day only 28 days away, former President Trump will campaign in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Nevada by week’s end. Vice President Harris is also barnstorming, not in battleground states, but in a media blitz on radio, podcasts and television. Lisa Desjardins reports.

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Geoff Bennett: Election Day is now only 28 days away. Former President Donald Trump will campaign in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Nevada by week’s end. Vice President Kamala Harris is also barnstorming, not in battleground states necessarily, but in a media blitz on radio, podcasts and on television.

Lisa Desjardins has our report.

Lisa Desjardins: Vice President Kamala Harris, campaigning this week in a flurry of media appearances, joined the hosts of “The View,” a friendly interview, though not toward her opponent, former President Donald Trump.

Joy Behar, Co-Host, “The View”: He’s a convicted felon, OK, a big-time loser.

Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: I think people are exhausted. And they’re exhausted with the lies.

Lisa Desjardins: The daytime talk show, part of a purposeful outreach by Harris to specific audiences, including women and families. As part of that, today, she unveiled a new proposal.

Kamala Harris: So what I am proposing is that basically what we will do is allow Medicare to cover in-home health care.

Lisa Desjardins: The idea would pay for in-home aides to help some on Medicare who need help with basic functions and whose families struggle to meet those needs. Medicare would pay for it all at lower incomes and with a cost-share at higher ones.

Some details are still coming, but Tricia Neuman with independent health organization KFF says this is a massive unmet need.

Tricia Neuman, Senior Vice President, KFF: You kind of know by talking to your friends and family members and colleagues that so many people are struggling to find a way to care for an aging parent or grandparent or spouse even. So this is going to touch the lives of a lot of families.

Lisa Desjardins: Trump’s approach on Medicare so far has been general.

Tricia Neuman: President Trump has talked about preserving Medicare. In the past, he has talked about helping families with these kinds of costs, but there really are no details in his proposals.

Lisa Desjardins: Harris was also asked on “The View” what she would do differently from President Biden.

Kamala Harris: There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of — and I have been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.

Howard Stern, Radio Talk Show Host: You come in here — you go — you went on “The View” this morning. You’re going to the shows.

Lisa Desjardins: The vice president also reached out across the gender gap today, speaking with shock jock turned podcaster Howard Stern, who boasts an overwhelmingly male audience.

Harris has been criticized for not doing more media interviews or holding a national press conference, including by Trump and Vance.

Donald Trump, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: She can’t answer any questions. She can’t answer any questions.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Vice Presidential Candidate: She won’t even sit for an interview with the American media.

Lisa Desjardins: But on “60 Minutes” last night, she called out Trump for backing out of his interview with them.

Kamala Harris: If he is not going to give your viewers the ability to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question-and-answer with you, then watch his rallies.

Lisa Desjardins: As for Trump, he is doing other interviews. He taped a town hall with FOX News that aired last night, in which he and host Laura Ingraham criticized Harris and President Biden for their hurricane response.

Laura Ingraham, FOX News Anchor: Biden said the response has been robust and well-coordinated, Mr. President.

Donald Trump: Yes, well, nobody…

(Laughter)

Donald Trump: Nobody says that.

Laura Ingraham: That’s what President Biden said.

Donald Trump: He doesn’t know what — he doesn’t know what robust is. He doesn’t.

(Laughter)

Donald Trump: Look, he should be there, and she should be there. She shouldn’t be at fund-raisers.

Lisa Desjardins: That prompted a quick fact-check from Ingraham.

Donald Trump: She should be, I would say — North Carolina is bad, is so bad. And she should be…

Laura Ingraham: She was there today for three hours, I believe, Kamala Harris.

Lisa Desjardins: In a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt that aired yesterday, Trump misconstrued migrant crime numbers and raised the idea of bad genetics when talking about migrants, phrasing long associated with racism.

Donald Trump: You know, now, a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes, and we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.

Lisa Desjardins: The Trump campaign says his words were misconstrued. Both candidates are on the air. Harris joins Univision for a town hall on Thursday, and Trump will take flight, heading out West to Kamala Harris’ home state of California this weekend.

For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Lisa Desjardins.