VP Kamala Harris talks midterms, marijuana and abortion on 'Late Night with Seth Meyers'

WASHINGTON — Kamala Harris used her first late-night network TV appearance since becoming vice president to reflect on how her life has changed since she got the job — including a shortage of emojis — and to talk up the need to vote in the midterm elections.

Harris, appearing early Tuesday on NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” in a taped appearance, promoted Biden administration efforts to fight climate change, restore abortion rights and pardon people with federal convictions for marijuana possession as she urged people to “speak with your vote” in the midterms.

President Joe Biden’s announcement Thursday that he would pardon federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana could help more than 6,500 people obtain employment or other opportunities, but it’ll do little for most people incarcerated for marijuana. Across the nation, about 500,000 people were arrested on cannabis-related offenses in 2019. Most of those charges were for state offenses, the FBI said.

“Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed, right?” she said, adding that governors and states should follow the president’s lead in offering pardons for state convictions.

"Congress needs to act," she continued. "We're 29 days away from the midterms. Ask who you're voting for where they stand on this and I encourage you to vote accordingly."

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Abortion rights are also hanging in the hands of midterm elections, Harris said. She said if two more Democratic seats are added, Biden would be able to pass the Women's Health Protection Act, which would put into law the protections of Roe v. Wade.

Dozens of clinics around the country have stopped providing abortions since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, according to an October report from the Guttmacher Institute.

"This is an issue that affects all genders," Harris said Tuesday.

Joe Biden's marijuana pardon plan: Many Americans arrested for marijuana won't find relief

Asked by Meyers how life had changed for her since she became vice president, Harris referenced “high-class problems” like security restrictions that alter day-to-day dynamics. She said taking a walk with her husband, Doug Emhoff, is no longer a one-on-one affair and that family chats via group text are “no longer a thing.”

As for her digital conversations, Harris said: “I have not received directly an emoji in a year and a half."

Contributing: Bill Keveney, Tiffany Cusaac-Smith, Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Late Night with Seth Meyers': VP Kamala Harris talks midterms