Why Do We Hate Kamala Harris? Do We?

This week, the hosts debate what the latest Times/Siena poll (www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...) reveals about Joe Biden’s weaknesses and mull over the question of whether Vice President Kamala Harris is one of them. Plus, Carlos on some advice that’s gold, Jerry, gold.
(A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication on the Times website.)
Mentioned in this episode:
• “Biden’s Polling Denial: Why He Doesn’t Believe He’s Behind (www.axios.com/2024/05/14/bide...) ” by Hans Nichols and Alex Thompson in Axios
• “An Interview With Kamala Harris on What’s at Stake in 2024 (www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/po...) ” from “The Run-Up”
• “Kamala Harris Should Try to Be Really Popular (www.slowboring.com/p/kamala-h...) ” by Matthew Yglesias on his blog, Slow Boring
• “What Happened” by Hillary Rodham Clinton
• “Did the President Call? ( • Veep: Selina Meyer Did... ) ” mash-up from HBO’s television series “Veep”
• “The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future” by Franklin Foer
• “Democrats Have a Better Option Than Biden (www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/op...) ” from “The Ezra Klein Show”
• “This New Book About ‘Seinfeld’ Is Worth Double-Dipping (www.washingtonpost.com/news/b...) ” by Carlos Lozada in The Washington Post
• Jerry Seinfeld’s 2024 Commencement Address ( • Jerry Seinfeld | Duke'... ) at Duke University
• “Why Conservatives Give Better Commencement Speeches Than Liberals (www.washingtonpost.com/news/b...) ” by Carlos Lozada in The Washington Post
Thoughts about the show? Email us at [e-mail] (mailto:[e-mail]) or leave a voicemail at [phone].

[@jon9625]

Possibly the first time in history that a VP candidate ( Harris ) could negatively affect a presidential candidates prospects

[@whazzat8015]

?! Sarah Palin ?

[@MayorMcC666]

you sound like you just fell out of a coconut tree

[@ClubPenguinFan106]

@@whazzat8015palin activated the base

[@gefiltefist2088]

She was the best pat of the ticket

[@whazzat8015]

@@gefiltefist2088 LOL ? Malaprop or can you not spell?

[@dalepetersen1166]

None of the California prosecutors have a reputation of upholding law and order. Isn't that the Problem

[@beerkegaard]

Kamala sounds fake when she's not in prosecutor mode.

[@mnemonija]

Genocide Harris? Hope she never gets another public job.

[@apollocobain8363]

Harris is Tamil, Scottish and (maybe) Jamaican. She grew up in Montreal eating her mother's curry. Indian (the country) Americans are among the most successful demographic groups in the USA with a very strong showing in small business ownership. I don't think idpol works well for Harris but I don't think it works against her. The biggest negatives for Harris are: - Poor ability to connect with voters, poor speaking, low charm, word salading. - Perceived as unwilling or uninterested in doing the VP job. No President has needed an active VP more than Biden and Harris has done almost nothing. She had a great opportunity to prove herself but she and her husband complain when she is asked to help. - Aggression and defensiveness that seems to come from a lack of confidence. Her discomfort makes others uncomfortable. - Awkward around children, adults, voters, workers, black men, people without money, hominids, mammals and earthlings. - Overlaps with the Pelosi/Bay area power base that is positioning Newsom to replace Biden. A Newsom Harris ticket would be 100% San Francisco and that will have very limited appeal in swing states.

[@chriswomack922]

These are all lies.

[@ginger22ly]

I love Gretchen Whitmer not Kamala Harris. I’ve wanted Whitmer to be president. Harris’ nasaly sound rubs me wrong. Also I have never been excited by her. I supported Joe Biden over her in the primaries. I saw Harris speak to a Latina business group. It was mildly inspiring. But she think Biden should have replaced her Whitmer.

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

I'll say it: I hate Kamala Harris. She was a do-nothing prosecutor and a do-nothing Attorney General. She has cultivated a blank canvas image in an effort to make herself a smaller target. Ditch her and put in Tammy Duckworth. Not only does she check all the boxes, but she stands for something. .so to speak.

[@gnoufignon]

Voice of law and order? Earlier this week at a leadership summit, your VP, Kamala Harris, tells young Americans to “kick that fvcking door down” when it comes to breaking barriers.

[@larryames8831]

Prosecutor

[@AnnStephens196]

He needs to keep Kamala. There’s always a threat against black women.

[@existentialvoid]

Unconscious bias is the reason you think KH is so hated? Go to California and speak to any liberal. No progressives but liberals - and you will get a clear answer. She has no political core, was a terrible AG, and has been an ineffective VP. The fact that she is one step removed from the presidency is a major concern.

[@travcat756]

This sounds like Fox wanabes

[@gnoufignon]

Trump is a nut, but....kamala is word salad. I don't watch fox bit am very disappointed that Biden is not a bridge candidate

[@bucinator9879]

​@@gnoufignon what the hell is a bridge candidate

[@drdr1957]

#61👍👍👍❤😂🎉😢😮😅😊

[@chriswomack922]

Harris is a rock star. We are constantly being hit with anti Harris propaganda including the headline of this article.

[@robertjahn8498]

Here see, we put woman of color in the power. Now you voot for us right? You votn for us as a woman.. It is so simplistic, its almost an insult.

[@user-wp5gu2sy3f]

I support 2024 Hillary Rodham Clinton + Harris as a body guard not anymore as when I was much younger than I am now 29 approximatively or +- years later and older Haha Most Black Soldiers and Black Panthers remain my @GIs@ or friends in civilian clothes *_im principle_*