THREAD

By now you’ve likely heard from the media that @KamalaHarris, recently named Biden’s choice for VP, is a moderate and a centrist.

That isn’t true - the chart below shows she’s among the most liberal in Congress - but that hasn’t stopped the moderate myth narrative.

We’ll start with yesterday’s announcement. What really got the narrative off to a strong start was @nytimes calling Harris a “pragmatic, moderate” pick.

Harris, cosponsor of the Green New Deal and Medicare For All.

And it wasn’t just the kickoff. @nytimes followed up with more reporting the “pragmatic moderate” fallacy, courtesy of @katieglueck and @alexburnsNYT.

This is campaigning, not reporting.

They weren’t alone. Here’s @CNN treating her the same way, going with the “moderate” designation.

Again, this is simply not true. If it were a partisan talking point, rather than something attempting to pass as real news, it would be one thing. But this is straight reporting.

Speaking of “a partisan talking point, rather than something attempting to pass as real news” @GStephanopoulos did the same thing.

Here’s @christinawilkie of @CNBC making the claim that she’s “widely considered a moderate democrat” which is true of at least CNN and New York Times I suppose.

@Reuters would do well to consider if the reason the public doesn’t view Harris as a radical has anything to do with their attempts and those of their colleagues to paint her as anything but a radical.

@EconomicTimes got in on the act, parroting the “pragmatic moderate” line.

And we’ve got bad think pieces here too. Here’s @databyler making the claim that she isn’t just moderate but “small-c conservative.”

Would be curious about how that squares with the data that is her voting record.

and here’s the apology to the progressives from @dereckapurnell that Harris is only, what, a top 5 most liberal member of the Senate? And not number one?

This isn’t even a new take, for what it’s worth. I always know I can count on @theintercept for pushing a take beyond what anyone reasonable would.

This from 2019.

But even the established @NYMag did the same thing back when Harris first ran, this one from @ed_kilgore.

It’s one thing when candidates want to frame themselves or their allies in a certain way.

But it’s enormously irresponsible for the media to take part in their electoral wishcasting and make them out to be the person they want voters to see them as, not who they really are.

This feels like one of those threads that I’ll have to keep adding to, because a narrative is a hard thing to stop, even when it’s a bald-faced lie.

And here’s the thing. If the Dems want to have a progressive VP, okay! That’s their prerogative! And they shouldn’t cater to conservatives like me in their decision making. Or, hell, even their branding.

I just don’t want the media to piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.