Kamala Harris’ intent to become the next U.S. president is being questioned.

Presidential Race

On July 21, 2024, Harris, the current vice president of the United States, took to X, formerly Twitter, to reveal her intention to join the 2024 presidential race and pursue the Democratic nomination, placing her in the running against Donald Trump, the 45th U.S. president and 2024 Republican nominee.

Harris’ announcement came shortly after President Joe Biden decided not to seek re-election.

“On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country,” Harris wrote on Instagram. “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.”

Historic Funding Raise

Already, Harris has received an influx of support, raising $200 million in a week, and 66% of those earnings came from first-time donors, per CBS News.

Harris also broke the record for the highest fundraising amount in a 24-hour period for either party during the 2024 campaign, earning $81 million, AP News reports. Her campaign reportedly claims it is the “largest single-day total in U.S. history.”

“Vice President Harris has been a candidate for less than a week, but she’s already coalesced the entire Democratic Party around her campaign and the organic, grassroots enthusiasm is producing results,” Michael Tyler, Harris’ campaign communications director, said, according to CBS News.

‘DEI Hire’

Though Harris has gained significant traction, some opposition remains, with attention on her race and gender. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee) labeled Harris a “DEI vice president” in a tweet shared on July 22, 2024. DEI refers to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming) echoed that sentiment the following day as she used the label “DEI hire” and undermined Harris’ qualifications.

“I think she’s one of the weakest candidates I’ve ever seen in the history of our country,” Hageman said, per The Hill. “Intellectually just really kind of the bottom of the barrel, and from the standpoint of just who she is and the policies and the positions that she’s taken.”

She added, “I think she was a ‘DEI hire,’ and I think that’s what we’re seeing, and I just don’t think that they have anybody else. I just think that they’re in real disarray.”

Yet, Harris’ resume shows that she served as the District Attorney of San Francisco, Attorney General of California, and United States Senator of California before becoming the first Black woman and first South Asian American Vice President, a White House press release highlights.

Some in the Republican party are looking to separate themselves from the “DEI” rhetoric. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) told CBS News those kinds of comments had been “nipped in the bud” and “that’s not where we want to go.”

The term “DEI” appears to be used to intentionally diminish the efforts of Black individuals in power. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott was labeled a “DEI mayor” after he addressed his community following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024.

Scott had previously served on the city council before running and being elected as mayor in 2020, earning 70% of the vote, The Hill mentioned.

“We’ve been the bogeyman for them since the first day they brought us to this country, and what they mean by DEI, in my opinion, is duly elected incumbent,” Scott said, according to The Hill.

MSNBC reports Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation researcher and founder of the American Sunlight Project, believes Harris may be more susceptible to this rhetoric because she is a woman of color. In 2020, she analyzed abuse and disinformation against 13 female political candidates, revealing that 78% of the attacks were aimed at Harris.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2023, 72% of Americans said “women have to do more to prove themselves than men” when looking to secure high political office. Thus, Harris may have to work twice as hard as she seeks to advance her duties in the White House.

“The idea there is to undermine her legitimacy, undermine her professionalism, undermine her accomplishments and appeal to people’s basic misogynistic instinct,” Jankowicz said, per CBS News. “There are people who are alleging that her accomplishments are less than, or that she didn’t earn her place because she is a Black woman. Her terms in the Senate and her record as vice president speaks for itself.”