Vice President Kamala Harris, who launched her candidacy for president of the United States early last week, is now considered to be the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. If she becomes the nominee, she would be the first Black woman and first Asian American to be a presidential nominee for a major party.
Michigan native Brittany Luse, the host of NPR's It's Been a Minute podcast, sat down with us to talk about Kamala Harris' campaign, candidacy and potential nomination, and how it represents broader shifts in American culture.
After Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who both served two terms, each election since has been a "big shakeup," according to Luce. In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first female nominee from a major party, facing off against Donald Trump. Then, 2020 saw former Vice President Joe Biden and President Trump in a showdown. Until last week, it looked like another rematch.
"It almost feels like every four years now we're duking it out, and every four years I'm looking at some type of copy to read on air and it's like, 'this is, the most contested election or the election of our lives,'" Luse said. "Every four years we are having the election of our lives."
This year, the rhetoric surrounding Harris is reminiscent of past years. Trump's vice president pick, J.D. Vance, recently criticized Harris for "collecting a government paycheck for the last 20 years," words that reminded Luse of "welfare queen" stereotypes.
But some things have changed. Social media is being used extensively by Harris' campaign, with TikToks, fan edits and posts with Harris' various "meme-able" moments.
"We've all been exposed to so many of the same meme-able moments over and over again," Luse said. "I can't tell what's a fan edit and what's, internet users kind of taking the absurdity of our political moment and expressing that, through all of these different meme."
Hear the full conversation with Brittany Luse on the Stateside podcast.
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GUEST ON THIS EPISODE:
- Brittany Luse, host of It's Been a Minute, a NPR podcast.
