WASHINGTON (AP) — The concern has always been there, but now it's being talked about openly: Are some men hesitant to vote for Democrats? Kamala Harris because she is a woman?

The vice president rarely refers to her gender on the campaign trail, but her key supporters are beginning to reach out more directly to male voters, hoping to overcome entrenched sexism — or just apathy — as Election Day approaches.

Former President Barack Obama said he spoke to black men in particular when he suggested Some “don't feel the idea of ​​having a woman as president.” Actor Ed O'Neill begs in a new ad: “Be a Man: Vote for a Woman.” And Harris' running mate, the governor of Minnesota. Tim Waltzhelps with leadership” Men with Harris “ – “Men with Harris” – to motivate Hispanic male voters.

“I think in many ways it is other people who need to serve as ambassadors,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University. Regarding the vice president's appeals to men, she added: “I don't think she can stand up and say, 'Shame on you!'”

“It’s sad, but I think she needs these external validators,” Walsh said.

The clearest example is Obama, who while campaigning in Pittsburgh stopped by a Harris campaign office on Thursday night to “speak some truths,” particularly to some black male voters who are not enthusiastic about supporting the vice president.

“Part of it makes me think that you just don't feel comfortable having a woman as president and that you're coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for it,” he said, adding: “You're thinking about it, Sitting out or supporting someone who has denigrated you in the past because you think it's a sign of strength because that's what being a man is all about? Degrading women? This is unacceptable.”

Keith Edmondson, a 63-year-old retiree from the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert who is black and attended a Harris rally in Arizona on Thursday night, said he was concerned about whether young black men would speak out for Harris. He said he was trying to convince his three grandchildren to vote for Harris, even though their father, Edmondson's son, is a supporter of the vice president's Republican opponent Donald Trump.

“There are more black people supporting Donald Trump than I thought,” he said, blaming what he called misinformation about Harris' background as a former prosecutor.

Trump has a long history of belittling women. At a rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, this week, Trump responded to Harris' appearance on ABC's “The View” by saying, “People realize she's a stupid person.” And we can't have another stupid president .” On his social media page, he also criticized “the stupid women” who host the ABC show.

Next week, Trump will participate in a Fox News Channel town hall event focused on issues affecting women. But he has more often preferred doing interviews on podcasts popular with younger men. The former president also entered the Republican Convention this summer to the sounds of James Brown's “It's a Man's World” and the event was designed to promote masculine themes, including introducing personalities from the wrestling world.

The Lincoln Project, a Republican group that opposes Trump and often produces ads aimed at angering him, produced an online ad encouraging men to do so, featuring the voice of O'Neill, a character from “Modern Family.” , “letting her take the lead” when it comes to Harris,” before concluding, “Be a man, vote for a woman.”

His message was much more direct than Harris often is. Although she made history as the first woman of color to lead a major party's presidential nomination, she has not publicly acknowledged the groundbreaking nature of her candidacy like Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Instead, she used this summer's Democratic convention to draw heavily on her experience as a prosecutor and promise that the U.S. had “the strongest and deadliest fighting force in the world.”

“She speaks to people in those moments who may not feel comfortable or confident that a woman can lead at this highest level,” Walsh said.

In 2020, women made up a larger share of the electorate than men. According to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of voters this cycle, 53% of voters were women and 47% were men. And in this election, men were more likely to support Trump, while female voters were more likely to support Biden.

Polls suggest that electing a woman as president is not a top priority for either men or women, but men in particular don't think it's important.

A Pew Research Center survey released last year asked Americans how important it is for a woman to be elected president in her lifetime. It found that only 18% of U.S. adults said this was extremely or very important to them. About 64% said it wasn't too important, not important at all, or that the president's gender didn't matter.

The same poll found that 73% of men and 57% of women said the issue was not too important, not important at all or that the president's gender did not matter.

Among some key demographic groups, Harris' support among men does not match the level of women. A majority of Hispanic women have a positive opinion of Harris and a negative opinion of Trump, but Hispanic men are more divided on both candidates a survey published Friday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The Harris campaign rejects the idea that Harris herself cannot deliver a winning message to male voters. Instead, she said, she works to reach them personally and also complements the efforts of key male supporters as well as campaign advertising campaigns that target top sporting events, for example.

Rather than simply appealing to masculinity, the campaign says, it presents arguments that can appeal to men and that focus on key issues such as the economy.

Harris appears on the digital cover of the latest issue of Vogue and recently recorded an interview with the podcast Call Her Daddy, which is most popular with younger women. But she's also sitting in on a town hall meeting next week hosted by popular radio host Charlamagne tha God.

Still, senior Harris campaign officials admit they are concerned about Trump's support among men, including white, Hispanic and black Americans. They find that Trump's brash appeals to “bro” culture have resonated with some, especially young, voters – and increased the likelihood that some potential voters will support Trump or sit out the election.

In response, aides have also urged the vice president to specifically mention cryptocurrency in her speeches and interviews, as she is aware of its importance among men. Trump runs a crypto company with his family, although unlike Harris, he believes it should be less regulated than they are. The Harris campaign is also expected to make an aggressive effort to have the vice president and Walz appear in male-heavy media in the final weeks of the race.

Walz has already done some of this, helping to found the Hombres group in Arizona and having one of his rallies there livestreamed on Twitch while a streamer on the site played and commented on World of Warcraft event – a forum that is popular with many younger, predominantly male gamers.

Harris' running mate is also attending a Friday football game in Mankato, Minn., where he was once an assistant coach, and is planning a hunting trip this weekend.

During a “White Dudes for Harris” fundraiser this summer, Walz said this about the prospect of defeating Trump: “How many times in the world do you let that bastard wake up afterward knowing that a black woman kicked his ass?”

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Associated Press writers Anna Johnson in Chandler, Arizona, and Josh Boak and Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.