Vice President Kamala Harris suggested the media would treat her differently if she were a white man.
According to a report published by The New York Times, “Ms. Harris has privately told her allies that the news coverage of her would be different if she were any of her 48 predecessors, all of whom were white and male.”
It continues, “She also has confided in them about the difficulties she is facing with the intractable issues in her portfolio, such as voting rights and the root causes of migration.”
The Times reported that the White House “has pushed back against scathing criticism on both fronts, for what activists say is a lack of intention.”
Kamala Harris’s Allies Express Concern: Is She an Afterthought? – The New York Times https://t.co/SE8roNZ1JM
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) December 23, 2021
The newspaper noted Harris has reached out to other women for counsel, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“There is a double standard; it’s sadly alive and well,” Clinton said during an interview. “A lot of what is being used to judge her, just like it was to judge me, or the women who ran in 2020, or everybody else, is really colored by that.”
Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) also commented on the issue.
“I know, and we all knew, that she would have a difficult time because anytime you’re a ‘first,’ you do,'” Bass said.
She continued, “And to be the first woman vice president, to be the first Black, Asian woman, that’s a triple. So we knew it was going to be rough, but it has been relentless, and I think extremely unfair.”
Additionally, Bass commented on Harris’s potential run for president.
“I think she is the front-runner,” she said, adding, “I think she’ll be the front-runner.”
A Rasmussen Reports poll published earlier this month found only 39% of likely voters have a favorable view of Harris compared to 57% who have an unfavorable impression of her.