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VICE President Kamala Harris has secured endorsements from top Democrats from across the nation, including from one of her former rivals.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is set to formally endorse Harris during the second night of the Democratic National Convention, adding to a recent string of victories for the Democratic presidential nominee.
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Over the last few weeks, support for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election has all but erupted, outpacing even that of her predecessor, President Joe Biden.
Online progressives – including some of Sanders’ most vocal supporters – have rallied to Harris’ side, armed with memes, viral buzzwords, and TikTok trends.
However, the support comes at an unusual time, and for an unusual candidate, given that only months ago Sanders’ team and fanbase nicknamed Harris “Cop-ala,” referring to her long tenure as a prosecutor.
In fact, Harris’ longtime supporters, dubbed the “KHive,” were often at odds with “Bernie Bros,” and other online progressives.
The two groups would often spar online, shooting each other down for their differing political beliefs and ideals.
Of course, as with most online vitriol, the attacks often turned towards racist, misogynistic attacks towards Harris and her supporters.
Even Harris herself acknowledged the KHive for their support in a 2020 post on X.
“#KHive, I want to take a moment to lift you up for all the support you’ve given me during these difficult times,” Harris wrote.
“Your support does not go unnoticed, so thank you,” she added.
Still, not everyone was on board with Harris or her policies.
“I deeply respect you but it is time to do something about the toxic people in your supporter base,” one of her followers commented.
“The leader of Khive literally wished COVID-19 on your friend, elizabeth warren,” another user wrote.
“What do you have to say about that?” they questioned.
In recent weeks, however, the tides have undoubtedly turned.
Democratic National Convention roundup
Delegates from across the nation decended into Chicago’s United Center to formally celebrate Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrats presidential nominee.
DNC Night 1 highlights:
- Delegates showed an outpouring of gratitude for President Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent who has decided to end his reelection campaign and pass the torch to his vice president to lead the nation.
- An emotional Biden, who wiped away tears as a raucous crowd chanted, “Thank you, Biden, delivered an emphatic speech that diverted past the scheduled primetime hour.
- Supporters praised the president for his 50-year career in public service that began in Delaware.
- “For 50 years, like many of you, I’ve given my heart and soul to our nation, and I’ve been blessed, a million times in return, with the support of the American people,” Biden said.
- New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave a fiery speech to the crowd as she dug into Donald Trump.
- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received a standing ovation as she called Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s campaign “the future.”
- Clinton, the first woman to win a presidential nomination in 2016, said she believes Harris will finally get the job done and break the glass ceiling.
- “There was 2016 when it was the honor of my life to accept our party’s nomination for president. And nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams,” Clinton said.
- “And afterwards, we refused to give up on America. We kept our eyes on the future. Well, my friends, the future is here. I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see us. They would say, ‘Keep going.'”
Harris has amassed over four and a half million followers on TikTok, with “Kamala is brat” and coconut meme references dominating social media trends.
The same group of young, progressive idealists who were “hating” on her have become some of her most loyal fans.
The change of heart indicates a rising shift in the Democratic Party.
With Sanders – and many of his progressive political supporters – forgoing a 2024 presidential run, there was no clear successor to the movement he started.
Even Sanders himself endorsed Biden just a few weeks before the President dropped out of the presidential race.
“Mr. Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate,” Sanders wrote, as reported by MSNBC.
A few weeks later, Harris announced her ambitious economic plan during a campaign stop in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Proposals range from cutting taxes, instituting a federal ban on price gouging, and expanding affordable housing.
Sanders – and his supporters – were on board.
“Well, I think given the fact that she has been a candidate for only three weeks, I think she’s doing really, really well in a whole lot of ways,” Sanders told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.
“I think what she laid out today was a strong progressive agenda,” he added.
Bernie Sanders on Kamala Harris’ “Bad Policy”
Bernie Sanders is set to formally endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate for US President during the second night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Sanders didn’t always agree with Harris, and has slammed some of her policies over the last few years.
In September 2017, Harris signed on as a co-sponsor to Sanders’ Medicare for All legislation.
However, a few years later, her Medicare for All plan differed from Sanders’ original ideas.
Harris’ plan called for transitioning to a Medicare for All plan over the course of 10 years, as opposed to Sanders’ four years.
Her plan would not only expand the existing Medicare system, but allow private insurance as an option, called Medicare Advantage.
“I like Kamala. She’s a friend of mine, but her plan is not Medicare for All,” Sanders told CNN ahead of the debates in 2019.
“What Medicare for All understands is that health care is a human right and the function of a sane health care system is not to make sure that insurance companies and drug companies make tens of billions of dollars in profit.”
One of Sanders’ top advisors also reportedly called the plan “bad policy” and “bad politics.”
They warned that the plan “vastly expands the ability for private insurance corporations to profit from over-billing and denying care to vulnerable patients who need it the most.”
The vocal support is a stark contrast when, just years ago, Sanders slammed Harris for her “Medicare-for-all” plan.
Unlike Sanders, who hoped to introduce his plan over four years, Harris’s plan called for 10 years.
Harris’ plan would also allow private insurers to compete within the government-run program, compared to Sanders’ plan, which sought to eliminate private insurance altogether.
“Call it anything you want, but you can’t call this plan Medicare for All,” Sanders’s campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, said in a statement, as reported by Vox.
“Folding to the interests of the health insurance industry is both bad policy and bad politics,” he added.
It’s almost unheard of that merely a few years later, even Harris’s opposition would be on her side.
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However, it comes at a time when they’ve “decided they’re willing to do anything to avoid a Republican victory, even if it means organizing around a candidate who isn’t perfect,” says New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé, as reported by Politico.
Ossé, who was just 18 years old when he voted for Sanders in 2016, will be voting for Harris in November.
“Progressives…understand that a Trump presidency is completely counterintuitive and destructive for the progressive movement,” he said.
“We want to win, and we know that Kamala Harris has a better chance of beating Donald Trump and the GOP than President Joe Biden does,” he added.
Other progressives – and Sanders supporters – are also on board.
“I, like many progressives, will vote for Harris if she’s the nominee because she represents the Democratic Party being willing to take Joe Biden’s un-electability seriously,” said Varsha Venkatasubramanian, a 30-year-old Californian.
Venkatasubramanian, like many other recent Harris supporters, seems willing to give “Cop-ala’s” criminal justice record a pass if it means victory against former President Donald Trump.
“She’s a literal cop. I’m not saying I love cops. I’m just saying she’s a literal cop standing across the debate stage from a felon,” she added.
