On Sunday, President Biden announced he will not seek a second term and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, as his pick to become the Democratic Party’s nominee. In the immediate aftermath, Harris' donations surged, and major Democratic officials rallied behind her. Republican influencers, however, seemed unprepared for a primary line of attack, initially conflating Harris’ potential presidency with the Biden administration’s policies. By evening, they appeared to have settled on a familiar but often unsuccessful tactic: focusing on pronouns and accessibility.
Within moments, several right-wing accounts posted the same video from 2022: a video of Vice President Harris sitting at a table and addressing a group of people, where she introduces herself by listing her pronouns and describing her clothing. She says, “Good afternoon, I want to welcome these leaders for coming in and having this very important discussion about some of the most pressing issues of our time. I am Kamala Harris, my pronouns are she and her, and I am a woman sitting at the table wearing a blue suit.
KAMALA HARRIS: "I Am Kamala Harris, My Pronouns Are She/Her, I Am A Woman"www.youtube.com
”The event was attended by a room full of disability rights leaders. According to White House Correspondent Andrew Feinberg, who stated that he was the print pooler at the event, “she was talking to a room of disability activists, including people who are/were blind.” Using descriptive terms to indicate who you are, your appearance, and what you are doing is a common technique to improve accessibility for audience members who may be blind. The Disability Visibility Project says of the practice, “A self-description provides information about a person that non-blind people passively glean. This includes identity characteristics such as skin color, gender identity, hair length and texture, wardrobe, and more.”
Within hours, however, conservative accounts began pushing the video as their first major line of attack on the likely nominee. Anti-LGBTQ+ influencer Chaya Raichik posted it on her Libs of TikTok account, highlighting the footage. RNC Research, a collaborative social media account for the Republican National Committee and Team Trump, also spotlighted the video. Elon Musk quoted it, stating, “imagine 4 years of this…” Conservative influencer Wall Street Silver added, “Do we really want more of this woke junk?”
Many others, however, noted that the attacks appeared to be desperate or ill conceived. One twitter user stated, “Honestly good that they are sticking to their ONE joke about pronouns and Kamala referencing what she is wearing here for the visually impaired. Real slam dunk. This should really resonate with non-weirdos.”
The criticism to the line of attack is well-founded. Conservatives have attempted to target Democratic politicians over accessibility, transgender people, and other issues they deem to be “woke issues” for nearly four years, with little success to show for it. 70% of Moms for Liberty and Project 1776 candidates lost their races in 2023, primarily running against transgender people and “wokeness.” Other losses Republicans have suffered on this issue occurred in the Virginia legislature elections, the Arizona Governor’s race, the Michigan legislature elections, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, the Walker-Warnock Senate race, and in dozens more places. Recent polls such as Gallup, Navigator, and the LA Times show that most Americans view these issues as “a distraction,” and in a Fox News survey where voters were asked to rank the issues that matter most to them, “transgender/woke issues” were in last place, with only 1% of voters listing them as a top concern.
There’s no sign that Kamala Harris is being negatively impacted by the attacks. Within hours of her announcement to run, donations began pouring into her campaign. By 10 AM the next day, she had already raised $82,000,000, with the Kamala’s Wins twitter account posting, “New reporting from ActBlue shows Vice President Kamala Harris’ first day as the presumptive Democratic nominee for President was the largest day of grassroots fundraising in Democratic Party history.”
This article originally appeared on Erin in the Morning.
