Harris downplays sexism in White House race against Trump – Washington Examiner
Vice President Kamala Harris is currently campaigning to become the first female president of the United States, and she recently discussed the historic nature of her candidacy during an interview with NBC News. Harris downplayed the significance of her breaking gender barriers, emphasizing instead the importance of having concrete plans to address pressing issues like economic costs and national security. She believes that voters should focus on a candidate’s qualifications and policies rather than their gender or race.
As the second Democratic woman to challenge Donald Trump for the presidency, following Hillary Clinton’s loss in 2016, Harris recognizes the importance of connecting with voters to earn their support. While she claims sexism is not a primary concern for her campaign, Harris has focused on critical issues like reproductive rights, especially after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which has garnered her support among female voters.
However, she faces challenges appealing to minority male voters, an essential demographic for her potential victory. In her campaign strategy, Harris aims to engage as many voters as possible, emphasizing the need to earn their trust and votes based on substance rather than identity.
Harris downplays sexism in bid to become first female president
Vice President Kamala Harris downplayed the historic nature of her campaign to become the first female president in U.S. history, during an interview with NBC News Tuesday evening.
Harris is the second Democratic woman to challenge former President Donald Trump for the White House after he vanquished Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
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“The experience that I am having is one in which it is clear that regardless of someone’s gender, they want to know that their president has a plan to lower costs, that their president has a plan to secure America in the context of our position around the world,” Harris told NBC News’s Hallie Jackson.
If elected, Harris, the nation’s first woman vice president, would break the proverbial glass ceiling that Clinton failed to conquer. Harris would also become the second black president after former President Barack Obama.
However, Harris claims that sexism is not of concern to her campaign.
“I don’t think of it that way,” she said. “My challenge is the challenge of making sure I can talk with and listen to as many voters as possible and earn their vote. And I will never assume that anyone in our country should elect a leader based on their gender or their race, instead that that leader needs to earn the vote based on substance and what they will do to address challenges and to inspire people.”
The vice president’s campaign has, however, run on reproductive rights after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022, which has helped increase her support among woman voters. Harris has struggled to appeal to minority male voters, who she will need to secure the White House.
Obama admonished black male voters to put aside their discomfort over a woman president while campaigning for Harris in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania earlier this month.
“You’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you because you think that’s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down?” the former president said. “That’s not acceptable.”
“Because part of it makes me think, and I’m speaking to the men directly, part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and reasons for that,” Obama also said.
Harris has notably not emphasized her historic campaign for the presidency and dismissed NBC News’s questioning about the strategy.
“Well, I’m clearly a woman,” Harris said. “The point that most people really care about is, can you do the job and do you have a plan to actually focus on them?”
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