Kamala Harris, on popular podcast, rejects Republican digs at childless women

By Nandita Bose

(Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday rejected Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders' suggestion that the Democratic presidential candidate is not humble because she does not have biological children.

Harris said the Arkansas governor's views on family were outdated and discussed her own "modern family," which includes her husband, Doug Emhoff, and his two children from his first marriage, Cole and Ella.

During a town hall Sanders moderated for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Michigan in September, she said her kids keep her "humble," while Harris "doesn't have anything keeping her humble."

Harris responded to Sanders' comments on the popular "Call Her Daddy" podcast on Sunday, saying "I don't think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who, one, are not aspiring to be humble. Two, a whole lot of women out here who have a lot of love in their life, family in their life, and children in their life."

"And I think it's really important for women to lift each other up," Harris added.

Harris said family comes in many forms.

"We have our family by blood, and then we have our family by love, and I have both, and I consider it to be a real blessing," she said. "And I have two beautiful children, Cole and Ella, who call me Momala. We have a very modern family. My husband's ex-wife is a friend of mine."

The vice president also responded to Trump's running mate, JD Vance, having previously complained he didn't want the country run by "childless cat ladies."

"I just think it's mean and mean-spirited," Harris said.

Sanders' office and the Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Harris joined the podcast, hosted by Alex Cooper, for a conversation focused on reproductive rights, sexual abuse and student loans.

The appearance was part of a broader media outreach effort by Harris as she seeks to boost her support in the final month before the Nov. 5 election against Trump.

The vice president's campaign, which has come under criticism over the amount of media interviews Harris has done so far, said she will appear on CBS' "60 Minutes," ABC's "The View," CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and "The Howard Stern Show" this week.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Christopher Cushing)