Staff Reports
The rise of Vice President Kamala Harris to the forefront of the Democratic Party has all the finesse of a sudden power outage during a live debate—awkward and shocking. Critics from the right have had no shortage of disdain for the way Harris was essentially handed the party’s nomination, but even left-leaning figures like California Governor Gavin Newsom aren’t entirely on board with the method of her ascension. Newsom’s appearance on the Pod Save America podcast revealed just how fragile the Democrats’ narrative around Harris really is.
Trying to defend Harris’s quick leap to the top, Newsom found himself in a bit of a conundrum. The Democratic primary process seemed to have taken a backseat to Harris’s star power, negating the 14 million votes cast for President Joe Biden during his campaign. With Biden reportedly bowing out under immense party pressure, the bigwigs in the Democratic establishment quickly fell in line behind Harris, as if it were choreographed. Newsom’s struggle to justify this lack of competition was almost comical, claiming that the selection process was “open” and “inclusive.” One can’t help but wonder if he had a script off-camera telling him exactly what to say.
In what can only be described as a moment of accidental honesty, Newsom admitted he was, in fact, told what to say. It was as if he was reading from a Democratic playbook that no one was actually buying. His half-hearted endorsement elicited a wave of skepticism, even from his own political allies. The irony of a party that claims to champion democracy while making backroom deals to install their chosen nominee was not lost on observers. Media pundits quickly seized upon this disconnect, raising questions about the legitimacy of a process that was anything but democratic.
Gavin Newsom jokes sarcastically about the process of nominating Kamala Harris:⁰⁰“We went through a very open process, a very inclusive process. It was bottom-up. I don’t know if you know that. That’s what I’ve been told to say.”
Credit: @irrationalhenry pic.twitter.com/NkcJ1pAu1k
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) August 23, 2024
This questionable nomination process didn’t escape the radar of Donald Trump, who took the opportunity to express his doubts about the very legitimacy of Harris’s candidacy. On Truth Social, he spun a narrative about her being the “weakest presidential candidate in history” who had opened the floodgates at the border and failed miserably in her own primary attempt. The criticisms appertaining to her lack of substantial grounding to run for president are abundant, leaving many scratching their heads as to how Harris is the Democrats’ chosen one.
Meanwhile, Fox News star Jeanine Pirro unleashed her own barrage of critiques, dubbing Harris the first “bait-and-switch candidate.” This characterization may resonate deeply with conservative Americans who feel betrayed by the political establishment’s decision-making. If even prominent Democrats like Newsom are conceding, perhaps this so-called “democratic” process has more holes than Swiss cheese. The latest developments are a fitting reminder that for all the talk of progress, the Democrats might just be stuck in an outdated game of political favorites.
