Kamala Harris
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About
Kamala Harris is the current Vice President of the United States and a former acting United States Senator representing the state of California. One of the Democratic party's more recognizable officials, Harris announced her candidacy for the United States presidency in January 2019. After making little headway in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary, she dropped out of the race. She was later selected by Democratic nominee Joe Biden to be his running mate in the race. In July 2024, Joe Biden announced he would cease his reelection campaign for 2024 and endorsed Harris to be the new nominee. Most prominent Democratic politicians followed, and Harris was anointed the presumed nominee for the Democrats in the 2024 election.
History
Kamala Harris's political career began in 1990 when she was elected as deputy district attorney of Alameda County California, where she served from 1990 to 1998.[1]
In 2003, she was elected the District Attorney of the City and County of San Francisco. Winning the position in two votes, the second, which she won unopposed, Harris held office until 2010, when she was elected California Attorney General.[2] Harris held the position of California Attorney General until 2016 when she was elected United States Senator in California.
2020 Presidential Run
Kamala Harris announced that she would be running for president of the United States on Twitter on January 21st, 2019. That day, she posted a video announcing her candidacy on Twitter. The post received more than 58,000 retweets and 192,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).
I'm running for president. Let's do this together. Join us: https://t.co/9KwgFlgZHA pic.twitter.com/otf2ez7t1p
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 21, 2019
Kamala Harris announced that she would be running for president of the United States on the Good Morning America morning show (announcement below). In her announcement, she said, "This is a moment in time that I feel a sense of responsibility to stand up and fight for the best of who we are, and that fight will always include, as one of the highest priorities, our national security."
Birtherism Attacks
Similar to the attacks made upon former President Barack Obama, some accused Harris of being disqualified from the office of president because of unsubstantiated attacks on her place of birth. Conspiracy theorist and conservative activist Jacob Wohl tweeted, "Kamala Harris is NOT eligible to be President. Her father arrived from Jamaica in 1961--mother from India arrived in 1960. Neither parent was a legal resident for five years prior to Harris’s birth, a requirement for naturalization. Kamala was raised in Canada." The tweet received more than 5,000 retweets, 8,000 likes and 9,300 comments, making it the recipient of a Twitter ratio, a mark that the tweet was largely disliked.[4]
This comment was quickly refuted. Twitter[5] user @aalali44 tweeted, "Ah, that was quick. Birtherism redux has arrived. Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California. She is a natural-born citizen and thus eligible to run for President of the United States. Period." The tweet received more than 275 retweets and 895 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).
However, despite the charges being unsubstantiated, CNN's Chris Cuomo said in a since-deleted tweet,[9] "And hopefully there will be no games where the issue keeps changing for righty accusers…and…the legit info abt Harris comes out to deal with the allegation ASAP. The longer there is no proof either way, the deeper the effect."
Many online mocked and criticized Cuomo for validating the claims. Twitter[6] user @gilbertjasono tweeted, "RIGHT-WING NUTJOB: Kamala Harris was born in the ocean. I read it on the Deep Web. She has gills CHRIS CUOMO: It is now up to Kamala Harris to rebut this potentially damning claim." The tweet received more than 600 retweets and 4,400 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).
Selection As Biden's Running Mate
On August 11th, 2020, presumptive nominee Joe Biden selected Harris to be his running mate in the 2020 Presidential Election.[10] The move was widely praised by Democratic officials and Biden's political rivals from the primary.[11] However, progressives were upset by the move, feeling as though Biden and Harris were similarly center-left ideologically while the Democratic base moved in a more progressive direction.[12]
2024 Presidential Campaign
On July 21st, 2024, President Joe Biden announced on social media that he would no longer seek reelection for the 2024 Presidential Election. Less than an hour later, he endorsed Kamala Harris, his VP, on Twitter / X (seen below).
Nearly every prominent Democratic politician followed suit in subsequent days, and as of July 24th, 2024, it is presumed that Harris will be the Democratic nominee in the 2024 election.[13]
The groundswell of support for Harris began online following a June 2024 Presidential debate between Biden and Trump in which Biden was widely criticized for performing poorly. Biden was already down in the polls at the time, and his poor debate performance led to increased pessimism about his chances in the election. Over the following three weeks, Biden faced increased political pressure to drop out of the race.
Coconut Pilled
As rumors intensified that Biden could drop out of the 2024 race, online supporters began to rally around Kamala Harris as his presumptive successor. This took the form of people semi-ironically embracing her off-kilter viral moments, most prominently her quotes, "What can be, unburdened by what has been" and "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" The phenomenon was dubbed "Coconut Pilled" over the following weeks and saw several meme iterations, including remixes of the 'Coconut Tree' quote and widespread use of the coconut and palm tree emoji combo.
Kamala Is Brat
A significant part of the online swell around Kamala Harris centered around tying her to Charli XCX's brat album, a popular album among Gen Z and Millennial social media users that was released shortly before rumors of Harris becoming the nominee started to spread in late June 2024.
On June 30th, 2024, TikTok user @temhota36 posted a TikTok video that applied the Brat Summer aesthetic to Kamala Harris' Fell Out of a Coconut Tree video and catchphrase. The post (shown below) received over 1.1 million views and 196,000 views in three weeks.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7386232948674071814
On July 21st, 2024, following the news of Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 Presidential Election and Kamala Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, singer Charlie XCX wrote on X / Twitter, "kamala IS brat," with her post gaining over 51,000 reposts and 313,000 likes in two days (shown below).
Following the post, the official campaign account of Kamala Harris' presidential run on X, @KamalaHQ, set a banner executed in brat aesthetic (shown below).
Reputation
Harris is known as one of the country's leading Democratic political figures, appearing in numerous Senate hearings, while maintaining a reputation of being smart, honest and sharp. Her popularity helped her raise more than $1.5 million in campaign contributions within 24 hours of her announcement that she would be running for president. The average contribution was $37 from about 35,000 donors.[3]
Criticisms
While Harris has been popular with American liberals, some have taken issue with her work in the California Attorney General's office. Some, particularly progressives on the left have criticized her for invoking conservative policies when battling crime in California. Jacobin magazine[7] wrote:
It should matter to us that Harris, the ardent criminal justice reformer, not only did little to enact this reform during her years as a prosecutor but backed harsh, punitive policies that undermined her own progressive rhetoric on the issue. It should matter that she at times did so needlessly, taking a harsher stance than her right-wing opponents. It should matter that she repeatedly attempted to keep an innocent man locked up in prison and attempted to defend a falsified confession.
Personal Life
Harris married her husband Douglas Emhoff, a California attorney on August 22nd, 2014. She has two step-children through this marriage.[8]
Search Interest
External References
[1] New York Times – Kamala Harris, a ‘Top Cop’ in the Era of Black Lives Matter
[2] Wikipedia – Electoral history of Kamala Harris
[3] Politico – Kamala Harris raises $1.5 million in first 24 hours
[4] Twitter – @JacobAWohl's Tweet
[5] Twitter – @aalali44's Tweet
[6] Twitter – @gilbertjasono's Tweet
[7] Jacobin – The Two Faces of Kamala Harris
[8] Wikipedia – Kamala Harris
[9] HuffPost – Chris Cuomo Blames Kamala Harris For Not Addressing Racist ‘Birther’ Hoax
[10] Variety – Joe Biden Picks Kamala Harris as Running Mate
[11] New York Times – Sanders and other former presidential primary challengers congratulate Harris.
[12] New York Times – In Harris, Biden chooses ideological match even as party tilts left.
[13] BBC – Kamala Harris wins enough support to clinch Democratic nomination
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