Vice President Kamala Harris’ bruising defeat is still a sore subject for supporters more than three weeks after Election Day.
And that was all made worse by revelations this week that efforts by Harris’ campaign to get her on the popular YouTube show “Hot Ones” were reportedly turned down by the program.
The popular YouTube talk show features a format in which celebrities answer questions as they eat progressively spicier chicken wings, coated in increasingly hot sauces.
By Wednesday, the reports spurred heated reactions from social media users – particularly Harris supporters – with reactions ranging from spicy to more thought-provoking.
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“Kamala Harris going on Hot Ones and/or Joe Rogan wouldn’t have changed the election results, but this still sucks a--,” author Ella Dawson wrote to her social media followers on Bluesky.
“Sad: Harris didn’t do Hot Ones because they didn’t want to get into politics, via Harris campaign leadership on @podsaveamerica.bsky.social,” political reporter Adrian Carrasquillo wrote on Bluesky.
Washington Post tech reporter Drew Harwell pointed out to his Bluesky followers that, “Trump had no problem getting on podcasts.” He then linked to an article and added: “Whereas the vice president was deemed too political.”
Sociology professor Jessica Calarco summed up her feelings in three words, before offering her own analysis: “This is infuriating,” she wrote linking to a Daily Beast report. “This is particularly infuriating given how she got dragged for not doing enough interviews, and for not seeming 'regular' enough."
The University of Wisconsin-Madison professor followed that up with a subsequent post delving deeper into what she believes was the root cause of Harris not being booked on the show.
“I'm guessing a lot of this is pure racism and sexism," she wrote. "But part of what's going on here might also be that Republicans don't seem 'political' because they're read as anti-government, while Democrats, as the pro-government party, are read as inherently more 'political,' no matter what they say."
The Daily Beast noted that in Hot Ones’ more than 350 episodes over nearly a decade, the show “has never hosted a political candidate for office."
"Leading up to the 2024 election, guests included musician Pharrell Williams, comedian Ali Wong and 'Tonight Show' host Jimmy Fallon, with episodes generally racking up over a million views on YouTube.”