Statement from Tina Tchen, president and CEO of TIME’S UP Now, on the Selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as the Democratic Candidate for Vice President:

“This is a historic moment for our country – and a welcome step towards building a government that truly represents the people that it serves. But like many women in public service across party lines, Sen. Harris has been the subject of vicious attacks.

“In the face of sexist and racist attacks, we unequivocally have Harris’s back – and we have other women candidates’ backs, too. Through our ‘We Have Her Back’ campaign, we are calling on the media to stamp out the kind of unfair coverage, double standards, and coded language that have held women – and especially women of color – from positions of power, across party lines, for far too long.”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

TIME’S UP Now is not endorsing any candidates for elected office; however, through our We Have Her Back campaign, TIME’S UP Now and our allies are calling out unfair coverage, and ultimately, disrupting the narrative and rebuilding the systems that have taken away women’s power for far too long.

Throughout the 2020 election cycle, Sen. Harris has faced a sexist and racist double standard and double bind that we often see applied to women candidates, from mocking her ambition to focusing on her appearance and clothing, rather than her qualifications and experience. Below are just a few examples:

• One Democratic donor remarked that she “has too much ambition” and Ed Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania, said she can “rub people the wrong way.” [The New York Times, August 10, 2020]
• Harris was repeatedly described as “too warm” or “connecting too much” with voters, while being “non-committal or vague” about her policy positions. [Refinery29, March 8, 2020]
• A CNN political reporter tweeted about Sen. Harris’s sequined jacket: “We kind of forced @kamalaharris to try on this awesome oversized rainbow sequin jacket … She snapped it up.” [Twitter, February 16, 2019]

##

TIME’S UP Now                                                                                   

TIME’S UP™ Now is the nonpartisan and not-for-profit advocacy and political arm of TIME’S UP.  We advocate for safe, fair, and dignified work for all in the public and private sectors, calling for an end to harassment and other related forms of discrimination on the job. And we fight to rebuild the systems that have taken away women’s power for far too long. TIME’S UP Now is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization.

We Have Her Back

The We Have Her Back campaign is an independent, non-partisan, rapid response movement of allied individuals and organizations to defend the unprecedented number of women candidates from sexist attacks and hold those who perpetuate these sexist and racist tropes accountable.