CNN political commentator Ashley Allison suggested Sunday that Vice President Kamala Harris’ historically low approval rating is largely driven by the fact that she is a “Black woman” and a “history maker.”
During a roundtable discussion on CNN’s “State of the Union,” ex-Trump aide and “The View” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin made the case that Harris could be a political liability with swing voters and that putting her front and center on the campaign might be a mistake for the Biden-Harris ticket considering her abysmal approval rating.
The conversation was centered around attempts by Republican primary candidates to make Harris the focus of their attacks, highlighting Biden’s age and the possibility of a “President Harris” if he is reelected.
CNN commentator Alice Stewart said Harris is taking heat from GOP candidates because she is choosing to attack Republicans instead of “talking about her own failures.”
“Yes, the president is old, and Kamala Harris is the heir apparent, potentially if he were to step aside. But look where this began the vice president was given a very impressive portfolio to deal with the border crisis and election reform. She failed on both counts. She has not done her job… she’s not a popular vice president. So instead of her talking about her failures, she’s attacking Republicans, and they’re simply responding…she has appointed herself the attack dog, and she’s getting hit back,” Stewart said.
Allison, who worked on the Biden-Harris campaign as a senior staffer, immediately jumped to Harris’ defense, arguing that race and gender play are to blame for Harris’ striking unpopularity and lack of accomplishments in office.
A Fox News poll released in June showed Harris having a 41% approval rating and a 56% disapproval among voters. An NBC poll released in the same month found only 32% of registered voters have a positive view of Harris, compared to 49% with a negative view, including 39% with a “very negative view.” This leaves Harris with a net -17 rating, which NBC News noted is “the lowest for any vice president in the poll’s history.”
ABC News’ Linsey Davis brought up the poll in an interview with Harris earlier this month, asking the vice president, “How much of a role, if any, that you feel that race and gender play in that?”
WATCH: CNN contributor Ashley Allison with the shameless smear of Republicans on State of the Union this morning. Allison suggests Republicans are being racist and sexist when criticizing Kamala Harris.
"I'll just say, I think that this is happening for a couple of reasons: Most… pic.twitter.com/loLShGw1Zi
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 6, 2023
