WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris, kicking off a daylong blitz of news media interviews, assailed former President Donald Trump for what she called his “callousness” in responding to the deadly storms that have ravaged southeastern states and said she was still hoping to work with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, as his state faces the latest monster hurricane.

During a wide-ranging interview on ABC daytime talk show “The View,” Harris spoke at more length about the storm politicking that has begun to dominate the campaign. Trump has used the hurricane that hit the Carolinas and Georgia last week to blast the Biden administration’s leadership and make false claims that the government is misdirecting federal relief funds.

“It’s profound, and it is the height of irresponsibility and, frankly, callousness,” she said of Trump’s claims. “I fear that he really lacks empathy on a very basic level, to care about the suffering of other people and then understand the role of a leader is not to beat people down; it’s to lift people up.”

The sit-down on “The View” was one of a series of friendly interviews that Harris had scheduled for Tuesday. She spoke with satellite radio host Howard Stern in the afternoon and then recorded an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” that was to air late in the evening.

Harris received a warm welcome from the hosts of “The View,” including a full-throated endorsement from Whoopi Goldberg. They asked her a broad variety of questions, including one about a specific way that her presidency would differ from President Joe Biden’s.

She initially pointed to their differing life experiences and divergent policy focuses. But when pressed on whether there was anything she would do differently from her boss, she said, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.”

Trump campaign officials immediately seized on the remark, clipping the exchange and promoting it on their social media platforms.

Later in the interview, after pointing to her endorsements from Republicans, she did cite one potential move that would distinguish her from Biden: her promise to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet.

Harris said she would welcome a Republican’s contributions “because I don’t feel burdened by letting pride get in the way of a good idea.”

Harris also addressed reports that DeSantis had declined to take her calls this week as another storm barrels toward his state. She said it was important that federal, state and local agencies work together on disasters and called it a “shame” that it had not happened.

“When I’m president, I will continue to call him to see what he needs for help,” Harris said of DeSantis, who has attacked the vice president’s outreach as politically motivated and said, “She has no role in this.”

During “The View” appearance — her first live television interview since Biden dropped out in July and she became the Democratic nominee — Harris unveiled a new plank of her economic plan, which would extend Medicare coverage for long-term, at-home care for seniors. The plan is designed to reach the so-called sandwich generation — an estimated 105 million people, including plenty of undecided voters, who are caring for their aging parents while raising their own families.

“There are so many people in our country who are right in the middle,” Harris said. “They’re taking care of their kids, and they’re taking care of their aging parents, and it’s just almost impossible to do it all.”

Harris, who has also proposed a child care tax credit, has spoken about her own experience caring for her mother while she was dying of cancer.

Joy Behar, another longtime host of “The View,” asked Harris a question on the minds of many Democrats perplexed at the possibility that Trump could return to the White House: How is this race so close?

“I personally cannot understand why anyone would vote for him,” Behar said.

Harris did not try to explain Trump’s appeal. Instead, she spoke about Republicans, including former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who are supporting her as a means to block Trump.

“People are exhausted now, and they’re exhausted with the lies,” Harris said. “They’re exhausted with the selfishness. They’re exhausted with the attempt to divide us as Americans. And they’re ready to turn the page and chart a new way forward. And I feel very optimistic.”

Later, Harris spoke with longtime radio host Stern, who invited her to tear into Trump.

“I believe that Donald Trump has this desire to be a dictator,” Harris said. “He admires strongmen and he gets played by them because he thinks that they are his friends.”

She also said “I literally lose sleep” over the election because “the stakes are so high.”

The three appearances came after Harris granted interviews to CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which aired Monday night, and Alex Cooper’s podcast “Call Her Daddy,” which was released Sunday.

Her appearances came as a New York Times/Siena College poll released Tuesday showed her slightly ahead nationally and gaining an edge on Trump as the candidate most voters see as representing change and caring about people like them.

Associated Press contributed.