MSNBC host Joy Reid is blaming white men for Vice President Kamala Harris’ dismal approval ratings.
What did Reid say?
Speaking with the Root in an interview published this week, Reid claimed that Harris’ negative public image is a result of white men who control the media narrative about her.
“Most of the media is still white and male. And their take on Kamala Harris becomes the take,” Reid said. “It becomes conventional wisdom.”
Reid, who hosts a prime-time show on MSNBC, described Harris as a “regular sister” who is not afforded many opportunities to display her personaility.
“She’s just a regular sister in the same way people would always say that Michelle Obama is like if your cousin became first lady. Kamala Harris is like if your cousin became VP of the United States,” Reid told the Root. “I think she doesn’t get to show that personality often enough, and so people haven’t had a chance to get to know her.”
What are Harris’ ratings?
Like the job approval rating of President Joe Biden, Harris’ approval rating is well under water.
As of June 14, only 41% of registered voters approved of Harris’ performance, compared to 52% of registered voters who disapproved, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Like Reid, many of Harris’ supporters attribute her poor approval to racism and sexism. After all, how can the first black female vice president be so widely disliked?
The real reason, however, behind Harris’ poor ratings is her job performance, which has been underwhelming at best. Not only did Harris fail at her job of handling the border crisis, but her attempts to represent the interests of the U.S. on the world stage have gone over about as well as a lead balloon.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen staffers have departed Harris’ office during her tenure as vice president. Her office, in fact, has been described as “not a healthy environment.”
“People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses and it’s an abusive environment,” one source told Politico. “It’s not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated. It’s not a place where people feel supported but a place where people feel treated like s***.”
Embarrassingly, the Democratic National Committee this week slashed the price for a photo fundraiser with the vice president at the DNC’s Women’s Leadership Forum. According to Fox News, the DNC cut the price from $15,000 per photo with Harris to just $5,000 per photo because of low enthusiasm for the vice president.
