Hip-hop magazine slams Kamala Harris’ ‘pandering’ attempt: ‘unflinchingly corny’

Vice President Kamala Harris faced criticism for her appearance at the BET Awards, with some labeling her attempts to connect with Black voters as “corny” and reminiscent of past pandering efforts by Hillary Clinton.

“Yeah girl, I’m out here in these streets. And let me tell you, you’re right, Taraji. There is so much at stake in this moment. The majority of us believe in freedom and equality. But these extremists, as they say, they not like us,” Harris said.

While discussing reproductive rights and urging voter registration, Harris’s statements drew mixed reactions, with some questioning her authenticity and political messaging.

“If Hillary Clinton is the Ken Griffey Jr. of pandering, then it looks like Kamala is becoming the Barry Bonds of it,” Complex magazine magazine wrote.

“The true humiliation of attempting to garner votes she didn’t deserve was what caused Clinton’s eventual downfall in the election. Voters didn’t show up for her like they did former president Barack Obama. Instead of campaigning in areas in the Rust Belt that were on the fence — states Obama had won — she talked about carrying hot sauce on her bag on ‘The Breakfast Club’,” journalist Jayson Buford wrote.

“The community’s impartial distrust in her cultural knowledge is like a Hulk Hogan headlock for her political career,” Buford added. “[This song] is supposed to be a celebration of community in the face of the interloper that can only wish to be us, but can’t totally sell the drastically Black mindset that the men and women with Black skin have. Kamala Harris, the former district attorney who was successful in increasing conviction rates, doesn’t fit what (hopefully) Kendrick Lamar had in mind when he made that song.”

“They [sic] out here trying to take away Pride, Plan B and Planned Parenthood, but protecting pistols. If you ask me, they pushing the wrong Ps,” Taraji Henson said,

Harris said, “We will do what we’ve always done. Fight for our freedoms. But here’s the thing, we cannot fight alone. We need to get our families, our friends, co-workers, cousins, play cousins, aunties and uncles, get all of them to register to vote. That’s why I’ve been so busy, trying to make sure everyone is registered to vote and that they head to the ballot box on November 5.”

“There is a full-on attack on our fundamental freedoms, the freedom to vote, the freedom to love who you love, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, the freedom for a woman to make decisions about her own body, not having her government tell her what to do,” she said.

The BET Awards appearance sparked international attention and commentary, with critiques highlighting perceived shortcomings in her approach to key issues and political messaging.

“Don’t you just love it the more they refer to anyone who believes differently from them as extremists. I’m like this is wearing so thin so fast nobody believes you anymore,” Sky News host Liz Storer said.