Kamala Harris received 'rough' treatment from media in 2022: WaPo columnist

Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart published an opinion piece defending Vice President Kamala Harris' "most excellent year."

The columnist claimed that "much of the attention" Harris has received, "especially in her first year, has been rough." He added, "Stories about staff departures were routinely hyped as disarray in narratives that unfairly called into question Harris’s competence."

Capehart, who also hosts MSNBC's "The Sunday Show," praised Harris for her activism on abortion access.

"She traveled to 18 cities in 14 states, plus the District of Columbia, to host reproductive rights events," he said. 

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"She was never more confident in her role as vice president — nor in herself — than during her barnstorming on privacy rights," Capehart added. "I’ve known and covered Harris for a decade. Whenever she talks about these issues, passion wells up and her most authentic self comes through."

The columnist claimed that he voiced this sentiment to Harris, and that she politely objected by suggesting, "I’m always myself, Jonathan."

Capehart quoted Harris suggesting that media coverage selectively covers her accomplishments.

"There are things that I’ve done as vice president that fully demonstrate the strength of my leadership as vice president that have not received the kind of coverage that I think Dobbs did receive," she told Capehart. "’What you’ve been able to see,’ she admonished, is ‘based on what gets covered.’"

The Washington Post columnist agreed with Harris’ assessment.

"Harris is right about that. Despite having a television and a print pool reporter at most of her public events, the vice president garners little attention," he wrote. "Sometimes the office is frustrating — as one of her predecessors famously put it, ‘not worth a bucket of warm,’ um, spit."

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While noting, "I’m not saying that Kamala Harris walks on water," he did acknowledge Harris has had some"growing pains" because of "negative reactions and low expectations."

By contrast, Capehart touted her as having a string of accomplishments.

"Harris has ably fulfilled the role Biden chose her to perform. She was an instrumental partner in helping to shepherd the first Black woman onto the Supreme Court. Also, Harris cast one of her record 26 tiebreaking votes to confirm the first Black woman to the Federal Reserve," he wrote. "With Democrats and their independent caucus-mates holding 51 Senate seats in the next Congress, Harris will no longer be needed for tiebreaking duty."

Capehart suggested that Harris, now freed of that responsibility, has an opportunity to boost her image. 

"Not being tethered to Washington by the pandemic or the threat of razor-thin votes means Harris can travel in the coming months," he wrote. "She can hear directly from the American people, and they can hear directly from her. They can take the measure of her. And they can see what I saw on Monday: a vice president better than her portrayal in the media."

Harris has received widespread criticism for her performance in several interviews and mockery in what critics call her word salads. 

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Comedy Central's The Daily Show roasted Harris’ widely mocked word flubs in October via a video tweet.

One clip showed Harris speaking at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., saying, "When we talk about the children of the community, they are the children of the community."

The video then responded with a clip of a fictional female Vice President Selina Meyer from HBO's "Veep" explaining, "Well, we are the United States of America because we are united… and we are states."