Why Does the US Hate Vice President Kamala Harris
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Alaina
- . August 8, 2023
- . Update: August 8, 2023 6:22 pm
Vice President Kamala Harris, who created ripples as the first woman, first Black woman, and the first person of South Asian descent to hold the second-highest office in the US, has amassed a considerable following. But three years on, she is being ‘hated’.
About 53 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Harris. Her approval ratings have taken a considerable hit. This decline began when she bristled at a question about why she had not visited the border. Studies also show that like other female politicians, America’s first VP has increasingly become the target of online abuse. The volume of sexist, violent and misogynistic attacks against her on social media is shocking.
Cornell Belcher, a Democratic strategist, told Axios that it shouldn’t surprise anyone that there is going to be a different filter and a different focus put on the first woman to ever be vice president of the United States. He added that attitudes toward vice president are usually on par with the approval of presidents. Moreover, a Times review of the four past presidential administrations suggest that vice presidential ratings are closely tied to presidential ratings. And a vice president’s favorability among voters varies greatly. It depends on their politics and demographies.
In regards to Harris, Americas say this is what happens when one chooses and elects a candidate because of their identity, and not their competence Some voters wonder when are the Democrats going to realize that gender identity is not a winning issue. The criticism thrown at Harris reveals the existence of a larger-than-realized group of un-woke Democratic voters that the party is neglecting. And the Biden administration, as per the New York Times, is sending the VP out as an attack dog which keeps President Biden above the fray. Harris is being used as the chief campaigner for Biden’s re-election because the president is an 80-year-old man, the oldest president in US history, who struggles to get through.
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The American media is writing off her unpopularity as a product of racism and sexism, while her colleagues, the same Democrats who celebrated her rise, are now calling her an empty suit who needs to be dropped as soon as possible. They now see her unfit for the national campaign.
But Ashley Allison, CNN Political Commentator, says Harris’ historically low approval rating is largely driven by the fact that she is a Black woman and a history maker. The VP is taking heat from GOP candidates because she is attacking Republicans instead of talking about her own failures. Alice Stewart, a political commentator also with CNN, says Harris was given a very impressive portfolio to deal with the border crisis and election reform. “She failed on both counts. She has not done her job…she’s not a popular vice president. So instead of her talking about her failures, she’s attacking Republicans, and they’re simply responding…she has appointed herself the attack dog, and she’s getting hit back.”
However, Allison believes race and gender play are to blame for Harris’ striking unpopularity and lack of accomplishments. She argued that most people don’t know what vice presidents do. Furthermore, polls show Harris running ahead of other potential Democratic contenders. She is widely seen as the Democrat’s front-runner in waiting.
