Kamala Harris’ rise has been characterized by strategic advancement in both her personal relationships and professional ambition. As the daughter of Shyamala Gopalan, an Indian-born breast cancer researcher, and Donald Harris, a Jamaican-American economist, her journey in politics—from District Attorney and Attorney General to Senator and now Vice President—has largely been sanitized by the mainstream media. Her background is as controversial as it is distinguished. Yet, her success as a lifelong politician is tied to a controversial prosecutorial career, marked by allegations of nepotism, abuses of power, and contradictions that challenge her public persona. As Harris continues to navigate American politics, the question remains: who is the real Kamala Harris?

Harris' political career began with the support of Willie Brown (former Mayor of San Francisco) in the mid-1990s, when she started dating Brown, a key figure in California politics he then appointed her to several key positions. Brown's backing was crucial when she ran for District Attorney of San Francisco in 2003, helping her secure endorsements and financial backing. Her tenure as California's Attorney General solidified her career, leading to her election to the U.S. Senate in 2016 and her rise to the Vice Presidency in 2020.

Abuse Of Power and Dubious Qualifications 

Harris' connection to Brown has been controversial. Her relationship with Brown advanced her career, as he appointed her to state boards like the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and the California Medical Assistance Commission in what could be construed as a quid pro quo. In any case the nepotism factor can’t be denied.

Harris' credibility is significantly damaged by her hypocrisy and abuse of power. As District Attorney, her office resisted efforts to overturn unjust convictions. As Attorney General, she helped pass truancy laws which led to the jailing parents facing hardship. Truancy is defined in CA as 3 unexcused absences or being 30 minutes late three times in one school year. She also challenged the dismissal of a case where Prosecutor Robert Murray falsified the transcript of a defendant’s confession by adding a false admission to child molestation. 

Harris reportedly helped blackmail Biden with threats to remove him with the 25th amendment to pressure him to drop out, despite covering up his mental decline for years. 

As a prosecutor she imposed harsh sentences on first-time offenders for small-scale pot dealing and used a corrupt crime lab to falsify drug tests, despite claiming to support criminal justice reform. As a senator, she backed bail reform but previously refused to endorse sentencing reform measures and challenged the release of an innocent man; a judge later overturned his conviction. As California's Attorney General, Harris fought a Supreme Court ruling to reduce prison overcrowding, nearly leading to her office being held in contempt of court. In an attempt to prevent the release of 5,000 low-risk prisoners, her office argued in favor of keeping them for prisoner labor. Recent advocacy of celebrities for judicial reform, bail reform, and the release of wrongfully convicted prisoners contrasts with Harris's record, which embodies the very issues such reforms aim to address.

Pandering With A Dubious Background

Despite paying occasional lip service to issues like police brutality, systemic racism, and economic disparities, Harris has faced criticism for policies during her tenure as DA that perpetuated these inequalities, reinforcing the view that Democrats offer little more than rhetoric to the Black community. Many within the Black community view those with deep roots in the U.S. as African American or  "Black” and distinct from the broader African diaspora. 

Given that the Democratic Party has relied on the Black community's support, the selection of Harris as Vice President was pitched as an effort to address racial inequality. Democrats have highlighted her multicultural background with Biden mentioning her while discussing DEI in a speech and on the White House website. Recognizing the growing influence of the Indian diaspora in U.S. politics, Harris was used to promote Diwali celebrations and US-Indian relations. Republicans, of course, have engaged in similar identity politics by inviting a Sikh woman to pray at the RNC and emphasized the diversity of J.D. Vance’s family. 

Pandering has been at the heart of Harris’s campaign. During the “White Dudes for Kamala” Zoom call, actor Ben Stiller joked about wanting to be Black while emphasizing Kamala’s diversity. Her supporters organized similar events, such as the "Crazy Cat Ladies For Kamala” rally and the "White Women Answer The Call" Zoom chat, which raised over $8.5 million. Groups like "Latinas for Harris" and "Queer Men for Kamala Harris" have engaged in similar efforts. Her team has also staged cringe-worthy stunts, including inviting the cast of Queer Eye to the White House and a video of Kamala cooking Indian food with Mindy Kaling. Her team also invited Megan The Stallion to perform at her rally and participated in another cringe-worthy stunt in the form of a B.E.T campaign ad.

Ironically, the organizer of the Zoom call, Shannon Watts, once wrote an article "White Women Have 100 Days to Save the World," laced with white-saviorism. Despite progressives' claims of moving beyond "old white men," they appear to favor a "Black" figurehead to advance their agenda. Sociologist Ruha Benjamin noted that the U.S. has historically used "Black faces in high places" to further its imperialist agenda, referring to U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield's veto against a UN resolution condemning Israeli violence.

Complicity In Biden’s Unpopular Policies 

During the 2020 race, Biden and Harris promised criminal justice reform, support for Black-owned businesses, and healthcare equity. However, their administration continued Trump-era COVID lockdowns, disproportionately harming Black-Owned businesses while allowing larger corporations to stay open. As VP, Harris flip-flopped on her past record as a vicious prosecutor and claimed to support marijuana legalization and praised Biden’s pardons for marijuana offenses. She also joked about her Jamaican ancestry, claiming that of course she had smoked pot in college (while listening to Tupac and Snoop Dogg), despite her record of throwing the book at minor drug offenders. 

Currently, Harris's website lacks solid policies, making her candidacy unpredictable and similar to Biden's basement dwelling 2020 campaign, offering no substantial change beyond opposition to Trump. Historically, Kamala Harris has called for "Medicare for All," "gun control by executive action," paid family leave, and childcare subsidies—initiatives that Democrats have promised, but failed to deliver on, for years.

Harris has consistently supported apartheid Israel, even speaking at AIPAC in 2017. Her alignment with established U.S. foreign policy and her selection of Zionist Tim Walz as VP suggest a preference for continuity over transformative change. Walz's inconsistent stance on the Iraq war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict mirrors Harris' hypocrisy. 

Although Harris is expected to overhaul Biden’s State Department if elected, she is unlikely to significantly alter U.S. foreign policy on Ukraine and Israel. Despite her proclaimed public sympathy for Palestinians, her public criticism of Netanyahu and boycott of his congressional speech before meeting him and shaking his hand at the White House all speak to her duplicity. 

Kamala’s Swinging Popularity While Tied to Biden’s Legacy

Harris' political future is closely tied to President Biden's legacy, presenting both advantages and challenges. While it aligns her with the powerful DNC apparatus, it also ties her to controversial policies such as COVID lockdowns, a worsening economy, and Biden’s imperialist foreign policy. With Biden’s tenure facing scrutiny over issues like the Afghanistan withdrawal and immigration policies, Harris shares in the administration's notoriety and failures. For example, Biden selected her to address the border crisis, leading the media to dub her the "border czar," which made her partially responsible for the crisis. In this role, she put off visiting the border. When she visited Guatemala, she solemnly warned migrants, “do not to come.”

Harris faced serious unpopularity during her initial presidential campaign, being one of the first democrats to drop out of the 2020 race. As VP, she was often seen as unlikable, due to inappropriate chuckling and her preschool teacher demeanor. Her inconsistent messaging, prosecutorial conduct, and hypocrisy turned away voters in droves. For example, Harris stated her belief in the sexual assault allegations against Biden and implied he sympathized with segregationists, yet aligned herself with him anyway.

There have been numerous reports of Harris creating a toxic work environment for her campaign staffers that has led to consistent turnover.

Despite engaging in tone-deaf behavior, such as partying maskless with DC elites during lockdown while strict COVID policies affected the working class, she has gained popularity among young people and influencers, possibly due to payments to those same people. However, her campaign faces a significant challenge as she is blamed for the recent stock market crash. 

This crash, driven by Biden’s poor economy, bad jobs report, and polls favoring Harris over Trump, led to delayed admissions of a recession by economists. Her ability to address these criticisms will be crucial for her political future.