Vice President Kamala Harris keeps a list of reporters and other political players who might be deemed racist or who "don't fully understand her or appreciate her life experience."
Harris declines many interview requests, but that hasn't stopped her from keeping an eye on those writing about her, The Atlantic said in a lengthy profile on the vice president published Monday.
"The vice president and her team tend to dismiss reporters. Trying to get her to take a few questions after events is treated as an act of impish aggression," Edward-Isaac Dovere wrote. "And Harris herself tracks political players and reporters whom she thinks don't fully understand her or appreciate her life experience."
One example of that, Dovere was told, was how Harris often mentions when a Washington Post reporter mistook the cheer of the historic Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha for "screeches."
Vogue magazine employees likely are on Harris' list, according to The Atlantic story, after putting her on the cover of its February issue. A photo used was not what both sides had agreed upon, her team said.
The Atlantic said Harris judiciously monitors the words used by journalists to describe her.
"She particularly doesn't like the word cautious, and aides look out for synonyms, too," he writes. "Careful, guarded, and hesitant don't go over well."
The Atlantic reported "journalists and other libs were sounding the alarm about the word 'ambitious'" during the 2020 campaign. Some aides to then-candidate Joe Biden thought Harris was too ambitious to be his running mate, and Biden did not want to be overshadowed.
The Atlantic profile suggested Harris lacks the political abilities to gain the presidency.
"Some [aides] have been surprised at how much work there is to be done, whether that's briefing her on certain policy issues or helping her improve her sparring-with-journalists skills," Dovere wrote.
Harris also has not impressed television folks on her abilities before the camera.
"At times, she comes off as so uninteresting that television producers have started to wonder whether spending thousands of dollars to send people on trips with her is worthwhile, given how little usable material they get out of it," Dovere said.
The Washington Free Beacon, in a piece referencing The Atlantic story, compares Harris to Hillary Clinton.
"Both women are possessed by ruthless ambition, yet lack the necessary skills to succeed in politics at the national level," the Free Beacon said. "They are most comfortable when regurgitating talking points and platitudes. Objectively speaking, they share a knack for unsettling laughter and launched their political careers by dating powerful men."
One of Harris' job priorities emerged in March, when Biden put Harris in charge of diplomatic efforts around border migration from Latin America.
"It appears to me like President Biden handed her a hand grenade and pulled the pin, and she was quick to get rid of it as fast as she could," said Sen, John Cornyn, R-Texas, who added that despite the border legislation he's working on, he hasn't heard from the vice president's office.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.