The day after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, the front page of the New York Times flashed Harris’ photo and three separate stories about her, under the all-caps headline “Harris Joins Biden Ticket, Achieving A First.”
On July 16, 2016, the morning after former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was named to the Trump ticket, the front page was covered with stories about Turkey and France. Pence only received a small column below the centerfold, with the underwhelming headline “Unbending Conservative.”
Two front pages of the New York Times compared. pic.twitter.com/MAIbWYhDqk
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 12, 2020
Harris, a subheadline on the front page proclaimed, was “seen as safe but energizing.” Another subhead lauded her as a “political warrior.” Harris has been “pegged as a rising star for a decade,” one article continued.
She’s also a “pragmatic moderate” with “cautious political instincts,” according to the Times, notwithstanding her record as the second-most far-left member of the 116th Senate. Harris is ranked more extreme than Sen. Bernie Sanders, having compared border security agents to the KKK, co-sponsored the Green New Deal, and expressed support for providing government healthcare to illegal immigrants.
The Times gave Harris substantially more attention than even Hillary Clinton’s announcement of Sen. Tim Kaine in 2016 — though Kaine’s appointment received more coverage than Pence’s.
Another New York Times front page: pic.twitter.com/kAxivCbu3y
— Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 12, 2020
Even Sarah Palin, who became the first female nominee on a major party ticket in over 30 years when she was tapped by John McCain in 2008, didn’t receive as much coverage as Harris.
— Lord Cod Satrusayang (@fishmyman) August 12, 2020
