The Magical Makeover of Kamala Harris

How the Media Spun a Coup Into an Absurd Propaganda Spectacle

By early 2024, the Democratic Party was in turmoil. President Joe Biden's approval ratings had plummeted, and concerns about his ability to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election were mounting.

The once-inevitable re-election campaign faced an existential crisis, with progressive factions decrying Biden’s lack of transformative policies and centrists fretting over his vulnerability against a resurgent Republican challenger.

Amid this chaos, the question of succession loomed large. Despite her abysmal approval ratings and frequent public ridicule, Vice President Kamala Harris emerged as the unlikely heir apparent.

As Biden’s approval ratings nosedived, the Democratic Party was thrust into a panic. Internal polling data, leaked in late spring 2024, revealed that Biden was trailing in crucial battleground states.

This alarming development fueled growing fears among party insiders that Biden was no longer fit to lead the Democrats into a brutal general election battle against Trump. Progressive factions, frustrated by Biden’s failure to deliver on promises of sweeping change, became increasingly vocal in their dissent. Meanwhile, centrist Democrats, who had once championed Biden as the safest bet, began to question his electability.

Behind closed doors, high-level Democratic operatives, strategists, and influential donors started to coalesce around the idea that Biden should step aside. But the question of who could replace him was delicate and fraught with risk.

Despite her own struggles, Vice President Kamala Harris was seen as the most logical successor. Her selection would not only ensure continuity but also allow the party to present a new, younger face to voters—a critical factor in energising the base and appealing to undecided voters.

Rumours soon began to swirl about a possible intervention by former President Barack Obama, a figure still wielding considerable influence within the party. By mid-summer, the pressure on Biden had reached a boiling point.

Key Democratic figures, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, met with Biden to discuss the party's future. The message was clear: the party’s leadership no longer believed Biden could win, and they were prepared to back Kamala Harris as the new standard-bearer.

Before Biden's exit, Kamala Harris had been a consistent source of disappointment for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Her tenure as Vice President was plagued by low approval ratings, hovering in the low 40s, and relentless criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.

Harris’s public speaking had often been a disaster—ineffective, incoherent, and frequently bordering on the nonsensical. Her speeches lacked substance, leaving the impression of a politician unable to articulate a clear or compelling message. Social media platforms buzzed with mockery, as Harris became a punchline for her inane, repetitive statements.

Harris’s leadership—or lack thereof—was equally damning. Reports of chaos and dysfunction within her team only deepened the public’s mistrust. High-profile staff departures and whispers of a toxic work environment painted a picture of a leader incapable of managing even her own office, let alone the country.

These issues eroded Harris’s credibility among both supporters and detractors, making her an unlikely candidate to lead the party into a general election.

Then, almost overnight, Kamala Harris underwent a miraculous transformation. In a stunning turnaround, the same media outlets that had, just weeks earlier, questioned her competence as Vice President suddenly began championing her as the ideal candidate for the presidency.

The media didn’t just rewrite the script; they flipped it entirely. What had once been election-threatening weaknesses were now reframed as strengths. Failures and controversies were no longer highlighted; instead, they were spun as heroic obstacles she had overcome.

This media makeover was nothing short of alchemy. Harris, once a political punchline, was now being celebrated as the embodiment of progress, diversity, and resilience. The media’s shift in tone was a masterclass in cynical opportunism.

They shamelessly exploited Harris's identity for headlines, emphasising her historic significance as the first Black and South Asian woman to lead a major party ticket.

Meanwhile, they buried their previous criticisms under a veneer of manufactured propaganda, effectively erasing any substantive examination of her qualifications—and their own.

As Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, the narrative around her background and policy positions underwent a dramatic transformation. Media outlets that had once scrutinised her began to celebrate her candidacy.

Major election liabilities were recast as strengths. The same critics who had previously highlighted her deficiencies now condemned anyone who dared to mention them as racist and sexist.

This shameless about-face revealed a comical level of double-dealing. Inconvenient truths were hastily buried under a veneer of virtue signalling, all to advance a narrative that was as opportunistic as it is absurd.

Articles and opinion pieces that had once questioned her leadership abilities now lauded her resilience and determination. Harris, they claimed, was the right leader for a new era, one defined by progress and inclusivity.

Harris’s campaign quickly embraced this new narrative, focusing on themes of progress, diversity, and resilience. Her strategy aimed to energise the Democratic base while reaching out to independents and moderates who were wary of another Trump presidency.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party worked tirelessly to present Harris as the embodiment of the party’s future, while the GOP attempted to exploit the coup narrative, portraying the Democrats as divided and desperate.

If Kamala Harris wins the presidency in 2024, the coup that removed Joe Biden will likely be seen as a necessary, if ruthless, maneuver by the Democratic Party to retain power. However, if she loses, it will be remembered as a desperate and divisive gamble that ultimately failed.

In either case, the events leading to Biden’s removal and Kamala Harris’s subsequent reinvention underscore the ruthless calculus of a politically unhinged party fixated on the destruction of Donald Trump.