The simple reason Kamala Harris is on The Shade Room

Vice President Kamala Harris has spent recent weeks sitting down for interviews with popular podcasters and gossip sites as part of her ramped-up efforts to reach Black voters as she battles Donald Trump for the presidency.

Her decision to appear on The Shade Room and other less traditional platforms has left many scratching their heads. But it’s a strategy to reach young, Black voters who are increasingly turning to social media for news. 

The appearances are part of Harris and running mate Tim Walz’s efforts “to reach Black Americans where they are at and engage with Black communities across the country through diverse mediums on the issues that matter most to them,” Jasmine Harris, Black media director for the Harris-Walz campaign, said in an emailed statement.  

Harris was slow to engage with traditional media after she took over the Democratic presidential campaign from President Joe Biden in July. 

She has since opened up to a diverse swath of media, appearing on late-night and daytime TV and in pointed interviews with Bill Whitaker of CBS News’ “60 Minutes” and Fox News’ Bret Baier, along with podcasts like Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” and “All the Smoke,” hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. Most recently, she participated in an interview with independent journalist Roland Martin, spoke with Charlamagne Tha God in an hourlong radio town hall on iHeartRadio and sat down with The Shade Room’s Justin Carter for a conversation about her recently announced plan aimed at supporting Black men. 

The appearances sparked confusion among some social media users. One person wrote on X, “Please tell me Kamala Harris really didn’t do an interview with the shade room.” Another shared similar sentiments, writing, “Why does Kamala’s team have her talking to Charlamagne and The Shade Room?”

“Both the Trump and Harris campaigns have leaned into cultural podcasts, entertainment media and talk shows, all of which could be key in activating certain segments of the voting population,” Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist, told NBC News this week.

A report from Pew Research on Wednesday found that young adults trust social media for their news just as much as they do national news outlets. Fifty-two percent of polled adults under 30 said they have a lot or some trust in information that comes from social media. While Black Americans report that they get their news from a wide variety of sources, 35% said they turn to social media sites to stay informed, Pew reported last year.

In June, Onyx Impact, a nonprofit organization working to combat disinformation within the Black community, published what it called the first deep dive into tackling disinformation targeting Black Americans through Black online spaces. It found popular Black influencers, podcasts and other programs, like “The Breakfast Club” (of which Charlamagne is a co-host), The Shade Room, “The Joe Budden Podcast,” “The Stephen A. Smith Show” and others that collectively reach nearly 41 million people, can serve as platforms for bad-faith actors to spread disinformation. 

Harris is tapping into Black alternative media platforms that reach millions of young people just weeks from the presidential election. The latest national NBC News poll has Trump and Harris deadlocked, with both at 48% support among registered voters. It’s a change from September’s NBC News poll, which found Harris leading Trump by 5 percentage points. While Trump has turned away from mainstream media and toward conservative outlets, Harris has expanded her outreach across the political spectrum.

Officials from both the Harris and the Trump campaigns have told NBC News that Harris is trying to persuade undecided voters, and both candidates are looking away from traditional outlets and toward culturally relevant ones to secure unlikely voters. That is most likely what led Harris to The Shade Room, which has more than 29 million followers on Instagram and is known for saucy celebrity gossip and salacious headlines. The popular gossip site is also often criticized for being a hub for disinformation. 

The Shade Room did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Harris has announced the Opportunity Agenda for Black Men, a plan to address economic disparities and create mentorship programs for Black men. She spoke about the plan at length in recent interviews in an attempt to appeal to Black male voters. A poll from The New York Times and Siena College found that Harris was faring better among Black female voters, 83% of whom support her, compared with 70% of Black men. 

Jasmine Harris pointed to the Black men-focused agenda when she was asked about the vice president’s appearances in Black online spaces. She said, “With less than 30 days until Election Day, the stakes of this election for Black Americans are simply too high for anyone to stay at home and sit this election out. ”

Kamala Harris acknowledged the weakened support in her interview with Charlamagne Tha God. 

“This is a margin-of-error race,” she said. “I’m going to win, but it’s tight.”