VICE President Kamala Harris has secured endorsements from top Democrats across the nation, including one of her former rivals.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders formally endorsed Harris during the second night of the Democratic National Convention, adding to her recent string of victories.
Over the last few weeks, support for Harris in the 2024 presidential election has all but erupted, outpacing even that of 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 is seen by some as unusual, given that only months ago Sanders’ team and fanbase nicknamed Harris “Cop-ala,” referring to her long tenure as a prosecutor.
And, on top of that, Sanders previously slammed some of Harris’s platforms as “bad policy” in a statement from his campaign manager.
In fact, Harris’ longtime supporters, dubbed the “KHive,” were often at odds with “Bernie Bros,” and other online progressives.
The two groups often sparred online, shooting each other down for their differing political beliefs and ideals.
Of course, as with most online vitriol, the attacks often turned racist and misogynistic toward 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 originally 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 turned.
Harris has amassed over four 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.
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 decided to end his reelection campaign on July 21, 2024, 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.
- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received a standing ovation as she called Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s campaign “the future.”
DNC Night 2 highlights:
- Kamala Harris secured the Democratic nomination in a chaotic and gaffe-filled roll call during night 2 of the convention.
- Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham spoke at the DNC and said behind closed doors, Donald Trump would refer to his supporters as “basement dwellers.”
- Grisham was one of five Republicans to speak at the convention.
- The Obamas electrified the Chicago crowd, delivering keynote speeches one after the other.
- Former First Lady Michelle Obama gave a rousing speech blasting Trump as a racist and misogynist.
- Barack Obama, one of the most influential figures in the Democratic Party since leaving the Oval Office in 2017, called his successor a “whining and childish” billionaire.
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 formally endorsed 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’s 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’s 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.
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.