Right-wingers online unveiled a series of sexist nicknames and memes for Vice President Kamala Harris as attacks ramped up following President Joe Biden’s endorsement of her as the 2024 Democratic nominee.
On Monday, the moniker “Kameltoe” was a top trend on X as some supporters of former President Donald Trump promoted the nickname.
“#KamelToe is a wreck,” wrote one person.
Harris supporters hit back by applying the same nickname to Trump, while some separately called out the reasoning behind the term.
“This one isn’t racial, or xenophobic,” blasted one user. “It’s straight up misogyny – denigrating a presidential nominee to nothing more than female genitalia. We are not a healthy society.”
“It’s not funny it is sexist, disgusting, and juvenile,” rebuked someone else.
But while “Kameltoe” may have been the only one to trend on X, plenty of other nicknames have been doled out by right-wingers against Harris.
Some of the attacks focused on Harris’ relationship with California politician Willie Brown 30 years ago.
“Never forget that when Kamala Harris was 29-years-old, she started an AFFAIR with 60-year-old Willie Brown, he was a married California house speaker, Mayor of San Francisco and one of the most powerful in California,” wrote one right-wing account on Sunday.
However, according to Reuters, at the time of the relationship, Brown had been separated from his wife for more than a decade. Reuters also reported that Harris and Brown’s relationship ended in 1995—prior to Brown serving as San Francisco mayor (he was instead a top Democrat in the State Assembly during their relationship).
Nonetheless, the right-wing account said that the pair’s relationship is why he calls her “Kamala Hoerris.”
“Kamala Hoerris will never be president,” echoed one commenter, while other commenters posted sexually suggestive takes about how Harris built her career.
That sort of name-calling is not new. According to NPR, one shirt sold by a vendor at Trump rallies read “F**k Joe and the Hoe.” (Those shirts are sold by third parties and are not official campaign merchandise.)
Others photoshopped Harris’ 2024 logo into graphic images.
Not all gender-based criticism of Harris, however, involves name-calling. Some involve spotlighting the fact that she has no biological children of her own.
“Kamala Harris wisely chose not to ever inflict herself on her own children,” wrote one commentator. “I trust her judgement on this. This also disqualifies her to be president–if she wasn’t qualified to raise a child, she is not qualified to lead a nation.”
“Really simple, underdiscussed reason why Kamala Harris shouldn’t be President: No children,” echoed someone else, though he added he made the same argument against Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).
The rhetoric that has swept social media since Biden dropped out has Harris supporters bracing for further vitriol.
Remarked one person: “Man the racist and sexist vitriol that’s going to be hurled at Kamala is gonna be crazy… SMH. STRAP IN!”
“But what matters electorally is not how brutally or cringingly sexist the attacks get, it’s how much the attacks persuade Americans who aren’t already voting for Trump,” concluded someone else.
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