Just a few weeks into the Biden-Harris administration, the USA has a major problem in the form of Meena Harris, the niece of the Vice President is not only threatening to butcher the USA’s relations with India through her mingling with anti-India elements and constant meddling in the country’s internal affairs, but she’s also allegedly making heaps of money by leveraging the position and name of her aunt, Kamala Harris.
Meena Harris is fast becoming a major headache for the Biden administration as the niece of VP Harris has sent the cash registers ringing as she profits aplomb from Kamala Harris’ ascendancy.
Meena, who is a Stanford and Harvard Law graduate, created unease in the Democrat camp after she flew in a private jet for the Biden Harris inauguration and being the social media influencer that she is, couldn’t stop bragging about her riches. This created a storm with the White House accepting that the plane in which Meena flew, belonged to a donor to Biden’s inaugural committee.
Meena who shares her birthday and a close bond with her aunt, Kamala, opened her production company post the November elections as it became clear that Trump was on his way out of the White House. Phenomenal Productions stirred up a storm after the company produced a two-minute video which consisted of clips of VP Harris, with the video debuting a day before the Inauguration Day.
The video on YouTube, which lists Meena as the producer, was funded by the Supermajority Education Fund, a non-profit organisation devoted to women’s leadership. It is pertinent to note that most of the funding of the Supermajority Education Fund comes from an allied super PAC which is backed by George Soros – a billionaire who has pledged to remove ‘nationalistic governments’ across the world.
White House claimed that it has no knowledge if Meena was paid for the ad or not, and in the case of the former, it would violate the House Policy. Unsurprisingly, when questioned whether the Supermajority paid her, Meena conveniently chose to not respond.
Meena Harris also owns an apparel line, Phenomenal which has been promoted by Hollywood superstars like Sofia Vergara and Jane Fonda. The company has Kamala Harris themed apparel from swimsuit to T-shirts – everything. Post the results, the transition team apprised Meena Harris of how she can only sell the existing Kamala-themed apparel line and cannot restock it.
Earlier in August 2020, according to reports, Meena Harris quite literally prodded the Biden team to sell a shirt of a young Kamala in the campaign store which she designed along with the help of a fellow influencer. In a month the Biden team removed Meena’s name from the campaign shirt.
Meena has also published a couple of books, where she yet again, attempts to leverage Brand Kamala Harris. “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea,” was published in June last year just before Biden officially picked Kamala Harris has his running mate. The cover of the book features an illustration of young Kamala with Meena’s mom, Maya Harris.
https://twitter.com/meenaharris/status/1268006273573720065
If the book were to release today, it will be a violation of the White House ethics, however, since it was published in June 2020, Meena has escaped the hook. Team Biden is in a fix on whether Meena continuing to accept royalties on the book is permitted or not, with the niece of the Vice President refusing to comment on whether she is still accepting royalties.
Meena, who is a paid speaker, also features on various prominent and primetime daily shows where she leaves no stone unturned in promoting her brand which she has built with Kamala Harris as its face.
Various White House officials are concerned over Meena’s repeated publicity stunts which can put VP Harris in a spot. “Some things can’t be undone. That being said: Behavior needs to change,” said a White House official while speaking to LA Times.
Despite the transition team making it clear to Meena that she cannot sell Kamala themed apparel, her company Phenomenal continues to sell a sweatshirt that reads, “I’m speaking,” – a famous quote from Kamala Harris which she made while debating the then Vice President Mike Pence.
Meena Harris’ desperation to profit off her aunt’s name was abundantly clear when allegedly, her Linkedin profile briefly said she was a “senior advisor” for the Vice Presidential campaign while in reality, she was just an official surrogate. Meena Harris had to later remove the title.
It might still be early days, but Kamala Harris’ family has the potential to be a major headache for the Biden administration. It is pertinent to note that Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful Presidential campaign was marred with reports of how Kamala’s only sibling and Meena’s mother, Maya who held senior leadership roles in the campaign, often clashed with the staffers. As Kamala stubbornly refused to discipline her family members, President Biden might have to take matters into his own hands or risk the image and equity of his Presidency.