Kamala Harris on Howard Stern show: Trump has a ‘desire to be a dictator’

Vice President Kamala Harris continued her recent media blitz with an appearance on Howard Stern’s show Tuesday, restating her criticisms of Donald Trump and saying the former president has a “desire to be a dictator.”
Harris’ appearance on SiriusXM’s “The Howard Stern Show” comes after the presidential candidate joined the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, “The View” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Stern stated his support for Harris and joined her in criticizing Trump, along with posing more personal questions like her opinions on how “Saturday Night Live” depicts her and why she likes Formula 1 racing.
As the conversation turned to foreign policy, Harris criticized Trump for his previous praise of dictators, as she has done repeatedly on the campaign trail. She also warned that he wants to be a “dictator on day one.”
Her comments came days after Trump resurfaced viral remarks he made in 2023 about being a dictator “for one day.” Here’s what to know.
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Stern asked Harris about a revelation in an upcoming book by journalist Bob Woodward, who reported that Trump secretly sent COVID-19 test machines to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I believe that Donald Trump has this desire to be a dictator. He admires strong men and he gets played by them because he thinks that they’re his friends and they are manipulating him full-time and manipulating him by flattery and with favor,” she said in response.
Stern then raised concerns over Ukraine. Trump has said Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if he was president, but has not declared support for Ukraine. Harris accused him of betraying friends of the U.S.
“I grew up in the neighborhood. Some would say you’re getting punked if you stand in favor of somebody who’s an adversary over your friends on principles that we all agree on,” Harris said. Then she invoked Trump’s previous line declaring he wanted to be a dictator on day one.
“Understand what dictators do. They jail journalists. They put people who are protesting in the street in jail,” Harris said as Stern jumped in with concerns that Trump would target comedians like Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt insisted Putin endorsed Harris, though USA TODAY previously reported he did so jokingly. Trump also criticized Stern in a Truth Social post Wednesday, saying he asked “softball questions.”
“(Putin) knows he can continue his crusade into Ukraine and take advantage of her weakness if she is elected President,” Leavitt said in an emailed statement.
Trump made his often-quoted “dictator” comments in December of 2023. Talking to Fox News host Sean Hannity in Iowa, he mockingly said he would be a dictator only on “day one” and wouldn’t be a dictator after closing the border and drilling.
At a rally in Juneau, Wisconsin Sunday, Trump raised these comments, accusing the media of taking them out of context.
“(Hannity) said, ‘Okay, let’s get this over, You don’t want to be a dictator, do you?’ I said, ‘Sean, I only want to be a dictator for one day and I’m going to close the borders and drill baby drill. But after that, I never want to be a dictator,'” Trump said at the Wisconsin rally.
He alluded to saying this jokingly and accused the media of cutting off his response to omit his explanation that he only wanted to be a dictator for one day.
Trump has repeatedly praised other authoritarian leaders around the world throughout his campaign.
Contributing: David Jackson, Dan Morrison, Francesca Chambers
This story was updated to add new information.