On Friday, NBC’s Today show gave viewers a glimpse into the fawning coverage they could expect over the next four years of a Biden-Harris administration, featuring a puff piece on Vice President-Elect Kamala Harrris’s niece and left-wing activist, Meena Harris. The relative of the incoming Democratic VP was teed up to compare her family, including her aunt, to a group of superheroes “saving the world.”
“Less than a week to go until one of the most historic inaugurations in American history,” co-host Savannah Guthrie excitedly announced at the top of the segment, before touting how fourth hour Today show co-host Jenna Bush Hager had “an exclusive interview with someone who’s got a really unique perspective, Meena Harris, she’s the niece of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris.”
Hager gushed over her “awesome conversation” with Harris and how they “talked about her aunt, growing up in a family of strong women, her hope for the future, and her new children’s book, Ambitious Girl.” As the taped portion of the segment began, Hager proclaimed: “Meena Harris knows a thing or two about ambition, her aunt is our nation’s first female Vice President-Elect.”
Lobbing her first softball, Hager enthused: “Your aunt was the one that broke the glass ceiling.... I wonder what that moment was like for you when you found out that she would be the first woman vice president, the first woman of color vice president, what that meant to you and to your family?”
Harris recalled feeling “relief and hope” when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the November election, she then assumed everyone agreed with her: “The most, I would say, beautiful thing about it is what we are experiencing in our house and with our girls and our family is what everyone across the country, across the world is experiencing.”
After lamenting how “Meena’s optimism has been dimmed” by the horrific attack on the U.S. Capitol, Hager hailed the VP-Elect’s niece for her commitment to leftist causes:
But despite the dark moments, Meena holds on to hope for a bright future and she’s doing her part to pave the way. At just 36, Meena’s an entrepreneur, activist, mom, and author. After working as a lawyer and tech exec, Harris put her Harvard Law degree to the side to pursue what was then her side project, inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem, Phenomenal Woman, Phenomenal is Harris’s female-powered organization that brings awareness to social causes. After influential celebrities wore the Phenomenal clothing, the brand expanded to include messages of activism and social justice. The success of Meena’s brand should come as no surprise. After all, ambition runs in the Harris family.
Hager touted how Harris came “from a long line of ambitious women,” providing her guest with an opportunity to portray her family a comic book heroes:
It was a lot of ambitious women. It was all women, so it was a really tiny family unit of me, my mom, my grandmother, and my aunt. It was amazing for, you know, a little girl to grow up and to see the world through strong powerful women. I used to joke that it’s sort of like the opening scene of the first Wonder Woman movie where they’re, like, on this all-female sovereign island nation running around, like, saving the world. And that’s what it looked like to me, as you know, a little girl.
On Tuesday, Hager previewed a portion of her adoring exchange with Harris in order to scold Vogue magazine for supposedly not idolizing Kamala Harris enough with its latest cover photo.
Thursday was not the first time that NBC heaped praise on Meena Harris. As part of the network’s effort to boost Kamala Harris’s flailing presidential campaign in late 2019, the 3rd Hour Today show happily promoted her niece’s left-wing activism during a glowing profile piece.
Now that Democrats are back in power, their liberal allies in press will make sure to offer a constant stream of sycophantic propaganda to cheer on leftist politicians and their relatives.
NBC’s celebration of the Harris family was brought to viewers by Xfinity. You can fight back by letting this advertiser know what you think of it sponsoring such content.
Here is a full transcript of the January 15 segment:
8:36 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Less than a week to go until one of the most historic inaugurations in American history. And Jenna’s here because you have an exclusive interview with someone who’s got a really unique perspective, Meena Harris, she’s the niece of Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris.
JENNA BUSH HAGER: Yeah, we had such an awesome conversation. We talked about her aunt, growing up in a family of strong women, her hope for the future, and her new children’s book, Ambitious Girl.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Kamala Harris’ Niece Opens Up; Meena Harris on Aunt’s History-Making Moment & New Book]
Meena Harris knows a thing or two about ambition, her aunt is our nation’s first female Vice President-Elect.
Your aunt was the one that broke the glass ceiling. I know y’all are extremely close. I wonder what that moment was like for you when you found out that she would be the first woman vice president, the first woman of color vice president, what that meant to you and to your family?
MEENA HARRIS: To be honest, my first feeling and reaction was relief and hope. Yes, as a family member, I mean, it was surreal. And there are moments even now that I kind of sit back and I’m, like, “Oh my god. Like, the first in the history of our entire country, like, that is mind blowing.” By the way, it should not have taken this long. The most, I would say, beautiful thing about it is what we are experiencing in our house and with our girls and our family is what everyone across the country, across the world is experiencing.
HAGER: Meena’s optimism has been dimmed by recent events in our nation. Last week we witnessed violence and heartbreak, our Capitol was taken siege by Americans. I wonder what you thought as you witnessed that?
HARRIS: I was terrified. I think the second reaction was shock, but also not being surprised given what we have allowed to go unchecked for the last four years. There has not been an ounce of accountability, and that frightens me.
HAGER: But despite the dark moments, Meena holds on to hope for a bright future and she’s doing her part to pave the way. At just 36, Meena’s an entrepreneur, activist, mom, and author. After working as a lawyer and tech exec, Harris put her Harvard Law degree to the side to pursue what was then her side project, inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem, Phenomenal Woman, Phenomenal is Harris’s female-powered organization that brings awareness to social causes. After influential celebrities wore the Phenomenal clothing, the brand expanded to include messages of activism and social justice. The success of Meena’s brand should come as no surprise. After all, ambition runs in the Harris family.
You come from a long line of ambitious women. Talk to me about what this looked like when you were a little girl.
MEENA HARRIS: It was a lot of ambitious women. It was all women, so it was a really tiny family unit of me, my mom, my grandmother, and my aunt. It was amazing for, you know, a little girl to grow up and to see the world through strong powerful women. I used to joke that it’s sort of like the opening scene of the first Wonder Woman movie where they’re, like, on this all-female sovereign island nation running around, like, saving the world. And that’s what it looked like to me, as you know, a little girl.
HAGER: Meena’s mom, Maya, had her at just 17. Maya went on to put herself through college and law school, eventually becoming an attorney and public policy advocate.
HARRIS: I saw her doing things in the world and leading. Sometimes she didn’t have child care, so she took me to law school class or to the law school library. She took me into her office on the weekends. What it meant as a kid is that I just got to see my mom doing things in the world and understood that she was, you know, making a positive impact.
HAGER: But in children’s literature, Meena didn’t always see successful females reflected. And as a mom to two young girls, representation is more important to her now than ever.
HARRIS: There were a lack of characters that looked like our family, that looked like my daughters. You know, we would sometimes color the skin color in with a brown marker. I learned that, you know, in 2018, it’s something like there were more books that had animals as main characters than there were books that had black, Latinx, indigenous, Asian, human characters combined, combined. We’re just not represented on the pages of books. And I wanted to do something about that. And I sort of, you know, said I’m just going to write the book myself, right?
HAGER: Ambitious Girl is Harris’s second children’s book. When a young girl sees a strong woman labeled on TV as too assertive and too ambitious, it sends her on a journey to reclaim words meant to knock her down, a concept passed through generations of Harris women.
HARRIS: My grandmother had the saying that Kamala talks about a lot, which is, “You may be the first to do many things, but – ”
KAMALA HARRIS: I will not be the last.
MEENA HARRIS: I was told that I could do anything, that I could be anything, and I was taught that, you know, ambition meant purpose, it meant determination, it meant having a dream and a vision and going after it and not letting anyone get in your way.
GUTHRIE: It’s so impressive to hear that history, but I know one of your favorite stories had to do with when she was a little girl.
HAGER: Yeah, I loved that from the time she was a little girl, she was ambitious. She actually went with her mom, because her mom was a teen mom, to all of her classes at Stanford, stood in line and introduced her mother to her current husband by asking him to play hide and go seek.
GUTHRIE: Wow, that’s a story.
HAGER: Isn’t that so cute?
GUTHRIE: That’s another fairy tale to tell.
HAGER: I loved the insight to this family of strong women, it was pretty cool.
GUTHRIE: Alright, Jenna, thank you so much. Again, the book is called Ambitious Girl. And we’re going to have more of the conversation with her Tuesday on your show, Hoda & Jenna.
HAGER: Yes, awesome.
