By AFP
July 22, 2024
Kamala Harris faces a wave of gendered disinformation in the race to the White House. - Copyright AFP Brendan SMIALOWSKI
Anuj CHOPRA
Doctored images, sexual slurs, racial innuendos — false narratives around Kamala Harris surged online as she emerged as the Democratic frontrunner in the US presidential race, with researchers warning of an incoming flood of gendered disinformation.
President Joe Biden exited the race on Sunday and endorsed Harris — the first Black, South Asian and woman vice president in US history — who vowed to win her party’s nomination to take on Donald Trump in November.
An online explosion of misogynistic and sexist narratives about Harris quickly ensued, including previously debunked falsehoods.
Some social media posts repeated suggestions Harris “slept her way to the top” in American politics, citing her brief relationship in the 1990s with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown.
The charge was refloated by conservative influencers such as Candace Owens, Matt Walsh, and Clay Travis.
Meanwhile, posts on the platform X recirculated a doctored image of Harris appearing to pose alongside disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The picture — debunked years ago by AFP’s fact-checkers using a reverse image search — had been manipulated to include Epstein instead of Harris’s husband, Douglas Emhoff.
Online posts also derided US-born Harris as a “Black African woman,” with some attributing her success solely to her ethnicity.
“It’s important to label these narratives and lies as what they are: an attempt to undermine a powerful woman’s public service because of her gender, her background, her skin color,” said Nina Jankowicz, co-founder of the disinformation watchdog American Sunlight Project.
“I challenge anyone who opposes Harris’s candidacy to engage in a substantive debate on the merits of her policies and track record, rather than calling her disgusting names.”
– ‘Lies and conspiracies’
In 2020, Jankowicz led a study that found more than 336,000 instances of “gendered abuse and disinformation” used to attack 13 women politicians. Some 78 percent of that targeted Harris.
The disinformation involved not just sexual tropes but also false transphobic narratives, such as Harris could not have ascended politically without secretly being a man.
Also included were racist narratives falsely asserting Harris was “ineligible” to run for office because both her parents were immigrants, while some insisted that she was “exaggerating” her racial identities for political gain.
Roberta Braga, executive director of the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas, warned internet users to be alert for “lies and conspiracies” about Harris in the coming days.
“The misinformation will be laced with gender-based attacks. And it won’t be new,” Braga said.
Women candidates of color in the 2020 elections were twice as likely as other candidates to be targeted with disinformation, according to a report from the Washington-based Center for Democracy & Technology.
They were also four times as likely as white candidates to be targeted with violent abuse, the report added.
– ‘Full spectrum’ –
Gendered disinformation –- when sexism and misogyny intersect with online falsehoods — has relentlessly targeted women politicians around the world, tarnishing their reputations, undermining their credibility and, in many cases, upending their careers.
AFP’s global fact-checkers have regularly debunked falsehoods targeting politically active women, who are often sitting ducks for online abuse and sexually-charged trolling.
As the White House race — already vulnerable to an avalanche of disinformation — heads into its final months, researchers are bracing for a flood of falsehoods targeting Harris.
Widely available artificial intelligence tools are expected to add fuel to the fire on social sites such as X -– the platform formerly known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, who is strongly backing Trump.
Platforms including X have scaled back content moderation, removing many of the guardrails against false information, and reinstated accounts of known purveyors of falsehoods.
“We should expect a full spectrum of disinformation,” said Ronald Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab, a research center affiliated with the University of Toronto.
That will range from “well-organized and professional influence operations, in some cases backed by foreign adversaries, through to amateur productions created by miscreants,” Deibert told AFP.
The coconut tree presidency? Harris memes break the internet
By AFP
July 22, 2024
The so-called 'KHive' -- Kamala Harris's online fandom -- is hoping memes about the vice president will help propel her all the way to the Oval Office - Copyright POOL/AFP Haiyun Jiang
Sarah TITTERTON
Last-minute US presidential candidate Kamala Harris is racing to craft her image — and social media users are moving even more swiftly to signal support, flooding the internet with jokes about coconuts and “brat summers.”
Harris memes have been surging for weeks as the so-called “KHive” — her online fandom — pushed her as an alternative to her boss, President Joe Biden, to face Donald Trump at the polls in November.
And with Biden’s momentous decision Sunday to step aside and throw his support behind her, many have rallied to the vice president with a tsunami of jokes and unburdened enthusiasm.
It began, as most good summer things do, with coconuts.
Last year Harris was speaking at the White House on education when she quoted a comment her mother often made during her childhood.
“She would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us: ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you,'” Harris said.
The oddball quote, along with clips of her dancing, her at-times awkward laughter, and some of her other slightly baffling anecdotes, became an instant data point in the — at best, bemused — way the internet understood Harris.
But after Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump on June 27 inflamed fears about his age, prompting calls for him to step aside, the KHive asserted itself, with social media users admitting they were “coconut-pilled.”
Content creators made “fancam” edits of her speeches and dancing on TikTok, and palm tree emojis were suddenly everywhere.
Bars in Washington — always quick to capitalize on political moments — began offering coconut-themed drinks, with pina coladas threatening a comeback.
Another of Harris’s offbeat but philosophically inclined sayings — talking about “what can be, unburdened by what has been” — also went stratospheric as Americans, weary of the long slog between Trump and Biden, began to hope a change might really come.
By the time Biden announced he was dropping out and endorsing Harris, the memes were no longer ironic.
“Madam Vice President, we are ready to help,” posted Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz above a photo of a man climbing a coconut palm, as top Democrats swiftly lined up behind Harris.
“You think I just fell out of a coconut tree?” posted Illinois Governor JB Pritzker shortly after ruling himself out as a Harris rival and endorsing her.
– ‘kamala IS brat’ –
The Harris meme fever riffs on what Biden’s campaign attempted to do with “Dark Brandon” — take something that had been derogatory (Republican jokes about Biden) and flip the script.
But Biden had long struggled to win over younger voters, and some Americans saw the Dark Brandon posts as a forced, cringeworthy attempt to connect with Generation Z.
“Harris’s efforts are likely to appear more authentic, maybe even fun,” wrote Charlie Warzel in The Atlantic.
Still, the internet is fickle, and the Harris campaign will walk a thin line as it attempts to lock down the youth vote.
Its first deliberate attempt to do so appears to have been a success: her campaign’s account rebranded itself on X with a lime green logo inspired by the album cover from singer Charli XCX’s “Brat.”
The album, released in June, has been a hit, with “brat” — defined by Charli XCX as “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe say some dumb things sometimes” — inspiring fans to declare a “brat summer.”
Encapsulating Harris’s memeability, Charli XCX posted “kamala IS brat” in the hours after Biden’s announcement.
“This tweet will reach more young people than a million dollar cable ad,” posted one user on X.
“Brat vote secured,” agreed Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost, 27.
The election remains in uncharted waters, but it all signals a broader generational shift as Biden passes the torch — and Trump, 78, becomes the oldest presidential nominee in US history.
As Slate writer Mark Stern put it on X, “Republicans who gleefully watched Biden get destroyed on TikTok for the past year are now realizing with horror that they can’t stop the Zoomer meme machine from turning Kamala into a brat summer icon.”
By AFP
July 22, 2024
The so-called 'KHive' -- Kamala Harris's online fandom -- is hoping memes about the vice president will help propel her all the way to the Oval Office - Copyright POOL/AFP Haiyun Jiang
Sarah TITTERTON
Last-minute US presidential candidate Kamala Harris is racing to craft her image — and social media users are moving even more swiftly to signal support, flooding the internet with jokes about coconuts and “brat summers.”
Harris memes have been surging for weeks as the so-called “KHive” — her online fandom — pushed her as an alternative to her boss, President Joe Biden, to face Donald Trump at the polls in November.
And with Biden’s momentous decision Sunday to step aside and throw his support behind her, many have rallied to the vice president with a tsunami of jokes and unburdened enthusiasm.
It began, as most good summer things do, with coconuts.
Last year Harris was speaking at the White House on education when she quoted a comment her mother often made during her childhood.
“She would give us a hard time sometimes, and she would say to us: ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you,'” Harris said.
The oddball quote, along with clips of her dancing, her at-times awkward laughter, and some of her other slightly baffling anecdotes, became an instant data point in the — at best, bemused — way the internet understood Harris.
But after Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump on June 27 inflamed fears about his age, prompting calls for him to step aside, the KHive asserted itself, with social media users admitting they were “coconut-pilled.”
Content creators made “fancam” edits of her speeches and dancing on TikTok, and palm tree emojis were suddenly everywhere.
Bars in Washington — always quick to capitalize on political moments — began offering coconut-themed drinks, with pina coladas threatening a comeback.
Another of Harris’s offbeat but philosophically inclined sayings — talking about “what can be, unburdened by what has been” — also went stratospheric as Americans, weary of the long slog between Trump and Biden, began to hope a change might really come.
By the time Biden announced he was dropping out and endorsing Harris, the memes were no longer ironic.
“Madam Vice President, we are ready to help,” posted Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz above a photo of a man climbing a coconut palm, as top Democrats swiftly lined up behind Harris.
“You think I just fell out of a coconut tree?” posted Illinois Governor JB Pritzker shortly after ruling himself out as a Harris rival and endorsing her.
– ‘kamala IS brat’ –
The Harris meme fever riffs on what Biden’s campaign attempted to do with “Dark Brandon” — take something that had been derogatory (Republican jokes about Biden) and flip the script.
But Biden had long struggled to win over younger voters, and some Americans saw the Dark Brandon posts as a forced, cringeworthy attempt to connect with Generation Z.
“Harris’s efforts are likely to appear more authentic, maybe even fun,” wrote Charlie Warzel in The Atlantic.
Still, the internet is fickle, and the Harris campaign will walk a thin line as it attempts to lock down the youth vote.
Its first deliberate attempt to do so appears to have been a success: her campaign’s account rebranded itself on X with a lime green logo inspired by the album cover from singer Charli XCX’s “Brat.”
The album, released in June, has been a hit, with “brat” — defined by Charli XCX as “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe say some dumb things sometimes” — inspiring fans to declare a “brat summer.”
Encapsulating Harris’s memeability, Charli XCX posted “kamala IS brat” in the hours after Biden’s announcement.
“This tweet will reach more young people than a million dollar cable ad,” posted one user on X.
“Brat vote secured,” agreed Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost, 27.
The election remains in uncharted waters, but it all signals a broader generational shift as Biden passes the torch — and Trump, 78, becomes the oldest presidential nominee in US history.
As Slate writer Mark Stern put it on X, “Republicans who gleefully watched Biden get destroyed on TikTok for the past year are now realizing with horror that they can’t stop the Zoomer meme machine from turning Kamala into a brat summer icon.”
Indian priests invoke heavenly powers for Kamala Harris
By AFP
July 23, 2024
A picture of Kamala Harris stands in the US presidential candidate's ancestral Indian village - Copyright AFP Idrees MOHAMMED
Arunabh SAIKIA
The god of truth and righteousness is on the side of the Democratic Party in this year’s US presidential election, according to Hindu priests in likely nominee Kamala Harris’ ancestral Indian village.
A single narrow road lined with coconut trees leads to Thulasendrapuram, a village surrounded by paddy fields deep in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and once home to Harris’ maternal grandfather.
A huge picture of the smiling Democrat stands at the village entrance near its main temple, a sprawling structure with a towering, decorated gate.
Community prayers began there the day after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, paving the way for Harris to ascend to the top of the ticket, and are expected to continue daily until voting day.
Hours after sunrise, sarong-clad head priest M. Natrajan paid obeisance with offerings of sweets and rice pudding to Dharmasastha, the Hindu god of truth and righteousness, to whom the centuries-old temple is dedicated.
“We prayed for her, and she became vice president,” the 61-year-old holy man told AFP.
“With the blessing of our all-powerful deity, we are confident she will now become president too.”
Another enormous image of Harris stands outside the temple’s gates, adorned by intricate artwork, and dozens of villagers thronged the premises.
The scale of the prayers will increase as the elections approach, said Natrajan — who doubles as a veterinarian at the animal dispensary next door.
Harris’ name appears on a list of donors on one of the temple walls, but she has not visited the village since being sworn in as vice president in 2021.
“This time if she wins again, the celebrations will be grander than anything the village has ever seen,” the priest said.
“After becoming president, she must visit.”
The offerings were “donated by the people of the village”, said J Sudhakar, 50, an influential local leader whose wife is the local councillor.
“It is a collective effort of everyone in the village for one of our own.”
– High profile –
Harris’ maternal grandfather PV Gopalan left the village decades ago, but residents say the family has maintained close links and has regularly donated to the temple’s upkeep.
Harris, 59, was born in California, but was often taken to India by her mother — breast cancer specialist Shyamala Gopalan — and has spoken about the influence of her maternal grandfather.
She has a diverse religious background — she is a Baptist, while her husband is Jewish.
Government employee Vijay Kumar insists that the village has benefited from Harris’ high profile.
A local commercial bank donated 10 million rupees ($120,000) to rejuvenate a long-dead reservoir in the area.
“They did that only because of Kamala Harris’ association with our village,” the 59-year-old said.
But even before she seeks to become leader of the world’s most powerful country, Harris is facing demands from a constituency continents away.
“Only the very bright can go to America, but if she can get some companies to open in our area, our kids can work there,” said Sudhakar, the local politician.
And farmer T Selvi, 53, added: “She was vice president, and now she will become president, but she should do something for us too.
“What is the point otherwise?”
By AFP
July 23, 2024
A picture of Kamala Harris stands in the US presidential candidate's ancestral Indian village - Copyright AFP Idrees MOHAMMED
Arunabh SAIKIA
The god of truth and righteousness is on the side of the Democratic Party in this year’s US presidential election, according to Hindu priests in likely nominee Kamala Harris’ ancestral Indian village.
A single narrow road lined with coconut trees leads to Thulasendrapuram, a village surrounded by paddy fields deep in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and once home to Harris’ maternal grandfather.
A huge picture of the smiling Democrat stands at the village entrance near its main temple, a sprawling structure with a towering, decorated gate.
Community prayers began there the day after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, paving the way for Harris to ascend to the top of the ticket, and are expected to continue daily until voting day.
Hours after sunrise, sarong-clad head priest M. Natrajan paid obeisance with offerings of sweets and rice pudding to Dharmasastha, the Hindu god of truth and righteousness, to whom the centuries-old temple is dedicated.
“We prayed for her, and she became vice president,” the 61-year-old holy man told AFP.
“With the blessing of our all-powerful deity, we are confident she will now become president too.”
Another enormous image of Harris stands outside the temple’s gates, adorned by intricate artwork, and dozens of villagers thronged the premises.
The scale of the prayers will increase as the elections approach, said Natrajan — who doubles as a veterinarian at the animal dispensary next door.
Harris’ name appears on a list of donors on one of the temple walls, but she has not visited the village since being sworn in as vice president in 2021.
“This time if she wins again, the celebrations will be grander than anything the village has ever seen,” the priest said.
“After becoming president, she must visit.”
The offerings were “donated by the people of the village”, said J Sudhakar, 50, an influential local leader whose wife is the local councillor.
“It is a collective effort of everyone in the village for one of our own.”
– High profile –
Harris’ maternal grandfather PV Gopalan left the village decades ago, but residents say the family has maintained close links and has regularly donated to the temple’s upkeep.
Harris, 59, was born in California, but was often taken to India by her mother — breast cancer specialist Shyamala Gopalan — and has spoken about the influence of her maternal grandfather.
She has a diverse religious background — she is a Baptist, while her husband is Jewish.
Government employee Vijay Kumar insists that the village has benefited from Harris’ high profile.
A local commercial bank donated 10 million rupees ($120,000) to rejuvenate a long-dead reservoir in the area.
“They did that only because of Kamala Harris’ association with our village,” the 59-year-old said.
But even before she seeks to become leader of the world’s most powerful country, Harris is facing demands from a constituency continents away.
“Only the very bright can go to America, but if she can get some companies to open in our area, our kids can work there,” said Sudhakar, the local politician.
And farmer T Selvi, 53, added: “She was vice president, and now she will become president, but she should do something for us too.
“What is the point otherwise?”
Harris shines light on Trump’s women problem
By AFP
July 22, 2024
Donald Trump holds a sign that reads 'Women for Trump' during his 2016 presidential campaign, which was beset by scandal over his treatment of women - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File JOE RAEDLE
Frankie TAGGART
Accused of sexual misconduct and affairs spanning decades, blamed for strict abortion curbs and criticized for sexism, Donald Trump has a women problem — and Democrats are gambling that Kamala Harris can use it as a cudgel.
Trump was accused of misogyny by his Democratic 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton — the only woman ever nominated for a White House run by a major party — and is facing similar attacks from a vice president looking increasingly likely to be the second.
Broadening Trump’s appeal to women is seen as key to the Republican’s electoral success in November, after he won just 42 percent of the female vote on his way to defeat in 2020, against Joe Biden’s 57 percent.
There was an coordinated push at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week to soften the 78-year-old billionaire’s rougher edges, with former and current associates effusive in their praise.
Several female family members also weighed in, with Kai Trump, his oldest grandchild, sharing stories of “a normal grandpa” who “gives us candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking.”
The praise was at odds with his public persona as an adjudicated sexual predator who has bragged about groping women and has a reputation for being unfaithful, allegedly cheating on third wife Melania Trump with a Playboy model and a porn star.
– ‘Fat pigs, dogs, slobs’ –
Trump was found liable last year for a mid-1990s sex attack on writer E. Jean Carroll — the judge called it “rape” — and ordered to pay $88 million in damages for the assault itself and for defaming her.
During his first primary campaign, he criticized the looks of his only female Republican rival and implied that the wife of another opponent– Senator Ted Cruz of Texas — was ugly.
Then the “Access Hollywood” footage of him boasting about being able to grab women by their genitals almost brought a swift end to his campaign.
Years earlier he had boasted on Howard Stern’s show about entering beauty pageant changing rooms with “incredible-looking women” in various states of undress.
Voters were reminded of Trump’s controversial statements during one of the primary debates in 2015, when moderator Megyn Kelly brought up his descriptions of women as “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.”
He later criticized the questioning, saying Kelly had “blood coming out of her wherever.”
Clinton accused Trump of “stalking” her during their debate in October 2016, after a bizarre performance during which he often stood closely behind her glowering.
After he won that election, more than 500 Women’s March protests were held in America and scores of foreign cities.
Trump has denied more than a dozen sexual misconduct allegations, from groping and harassment to rape. The official Trump White House position in 2017 was that the women were all lying.
– ‘Formidable female contender’ –
He avoided jail in the Carroll case because it was a civil trial, but incarceration has not been ruled out in his September sentencing for falsifying business records to cover up an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt told AFP the media’s portrayal of his treatment of women was “entirely false,” pointing to his efforts to expand access to paid family leave and child care in his first term.
Meanwhile, reproductive rights have become a hot-button 2024 election issue after Trump’s appointment of three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn federal abortion protections.
Harris, as well as being a former prosecutor who used to put men away for fraud and rape, is a leading proponent of abortion access.
A coalition of 22 progressive and women’s groups released a statement calling Harris “the leading voice in the Biden administration to restore abortion rights — the issue galvanizing voters in red states and blue.”
Political strategist Sergio Jose Gutierrez says that while Harris might struggle with moderate and older women, the 2020 Democratic coalition of suburban women and working moms could help her across the line.
“Trump’s stronghold remains among small-town voters, seniors, and economic conservatives,” said Gutierrez, the CEO of consultancy Espora.
“But he must adapt to the dynamics of running against a formidable female contender.”
By AFP
July 22, 2024
Donald Trump holds a sign that reads 'Women for Trump' during his 2016 presidential campaign, which was beset by scandal over his treatment of women - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File JOE RAEDLE
Frankie TAGGART
Accused of sexual misconduct and affairs spanning decades, blamed for strict abortion curbs and criticized for sexism, Donald Trump has a women problem — and Democrats are gambling that Kamala Harris can use it as a cudgel.
Trump was accused of misogyny by his Democratic 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton — the only woman ever nominated for a White House run by a major party — and is facing similar attacks from a vice president looking increasingly likely to be the second.
Broadening Trump’s appeal to women is seen as key to the Republican’s electoral success in November, after he won just 42 percent of the female vote on his way to defeat in 2020, against Joe Biden’s 57 percent.
There was an coordinated push at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week to soften the 78-year-old billionaire’s rougher edges, with former and current associates effusive in their praise.
Several female family members also weighed in, with Kai Trump, his oldest grandchild, sharing stories of “a normal grandpa” who “gives us candy and soda when our parents aren’t looking.”
The praise was at odds with his public persona as an adjudicated sexual predator who has bragged about groping women and has a reputation for being unfaithful, allegedly cheating on third wife Melania Trump with a Playboy model and a porn star.
– ‘Fat pigs, dogs, slobs’ –
Trump was found liable last year for a mid-1990s sex attack on writer E. Jean Carroll — the judge called it “rape” — and ordered to pay $88 million in damages for the assault itself and for defaming her.
During his first primary campaign, he criticized the looks of his only female Republican rival and implied that the wife of another opponent– Senator Ted Cruz of Texas — was ugly.
Then the “Access Hollywood” footage of him boasting about being able to grab women by their genitals almost brought a swift end to his campaign.
Years earlier he had boasted on Howard Stern’s show about entering beauty pageant changing rooms with “incredible-looking women” in various states of undress.
Voters were reminded of Trump’s controversial statements during one of the primary debates in 2015, when moderator Megyn Kelly brought up his descriptions of women as “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.”
He later criticized the questioning, saying Kelly had “blood coming out of her wherever.”
Clinton accused Trump of “stalking” her during their debate in October 2016, after a bizarre performance during which he often stood closely behind her glowering.
After he won that election, more than 500 Women’s March protests were held in America and scores of foreign cities.
Trump has denied more than a dozen sexual misconduct allegations, from groping and harassment to rape. The official Trump White House position in 2017 was that the women were all lying.
– ‘Formidable female contender’ –
He avoided jail in the Carroll case because it was a civil trial, but incarceration has not been ruled out in his September sentencing for falsifying business records to cover up an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt told AFP the media’s portrayal of his treatment of women was “entirely false,” pointing to his efforts to expand access to paid family leave and child care in his first term.
Meanwhile, reproductive rights have become a hot-button 2024 election issue after Trump’s appointment of three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn federal abortion protections.
Harris, as well as being a former prosecutor who used to put men away for fraud and rape, is a leading proponent of abortion access.
A coalition of 22 progressive and women’s groups released a statement calling Harris “the leading voice in the Biden administration to restore abortion rights — the issue galvanizing voters in red states and blue.”
Political strategist Sergio Jose Gutierrez says that while Harris might struggle with moderate and older women, the 2020 Democratic coalition of suburban women and working moms could help her across the line.
“Trump’s stronghold remains among small-town voters, seniors, and economic conservatives,” said Gutierrez, the CEO of consultancy Espora.
“But he must adapt to the dynamics of running against a formidable female contender.”
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