After the ABC and CBS morning shows on Monday sympathized with left-wing wailing over the latest cover of Vogue magazine featuring Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, on Tuesday, NBC’s Today show rushed to join the sycophantic hand-wringing that the photo of Harris was “disrespectful.” In addition, they talked to the Democrat’s niece and liberal activist, Meena Harris, about the supposed “controversy.”
“Cover controversy. The online backlash over Vogue’s cover of the Vice President-Elect,” co-host Hoda Kotb announced at the top of the 8:00 a.m. ET hour. In another tease minutes later, fellow co-host Craig Melvin sounded like a member of the Vice President-Elect’s communications team: “Coming up next here on a Tuesday morning, a history-making Vogue cover featuring Kamala Harris and why critics say it doesn’t give the Vice President-Elect her due.”
Introducing the segment, co-host Carson Daly claimed the “momentous event” of Harris being on the cover of the fashion magazine “came with an unexpected side of controversy.” Fourth hour Today co-host Jenna Bush Hager proclaimed: “It’s one of the most coveted covers in publishing, Vogue, signifying more than just style or status, but also celebrating a moment in history....And for Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, many are saying this moment missed the mark.”
She cited leftists taking to Twitter to denounce the magazine:
Reaction was swift and critical. Many criticizing the casual nature of the cover. One person tweeting, it was “disrespectful.” Noted Washington Post critic Robin Gavan writing, “The cover did not give Kamala D. Harris due respect. It was overly familiar. It was a cover image that, in effect, called Harris by her first name without invitation.”
Hager also conducted a softball interview with the Vice President-Elect’s niece, Meena Harris, known for her liberal activism, who gushed over her aunt’s election:
It’s a big moment where we’ve elected the first woman in history, the first black woman in history and South Asian woman to hold the office of vice president in our country’s history. That is a huge historic moment....It deserves the proper celebration of that moment, especially, you know, for a magazine that often has not had black women on the cover.
Wrapping up the segment, Hager touted the magazine’s editor seeking forgiveness for the publication’s supposed transgression:
And Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is also speaking out, telling The New York Times’s Kara Swisher, “Obviously we heard and understood the reaction to the print cover and I just want to reiterate that it was absolutely not our intention to, in any way, diminish the importance of the Vice President-Elect’s incredible victory.”
The Today show devoted 4 minutes 43 seconds to the Vogue cover and offered another 4 minutes 23 seconds during the fourth hour of the Today show. The amount focus on this absurd quibbling over whether pro-Democrat propaganda was obsequious enough is truly pathetic.
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Here is a full transcript of the January 12 Today show segment:
8:14 AM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: Back now at 8:14, as we say good morning to Carson Daly. You’ve got a story that’s really causing quite the stir online.
CARSON DALY: That’s right. When Vogue magazine released it’s February cover featuring Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, the momentous event came with an unexpected side of controversy.
HODA KOTB: Jenna spoke with Harris’s niece on Monday about that cover and more. Hey, Jenna.
JENNA BUSH HAGER: I did. Good morning, guys. It was a candid interview with Meena Harris. We talked about her history-making aunt, her own success as an entrepreneur, and her new book, it’s a children’s book, called Ambitious Girl. She also weighed in on the controversy around her aunt’s Vogue cover. When it was release over the weekend, fans applauded the significance. But reaction to the cover choice was mixed.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Vogue Cover Controversy Kamala Harris’ Niece Speaks Out on Photos, Historic Choice]
It’s one of the most coveted covers in publishing, Vogue, signifying more than just style or status, but also celebrating a moment in history.
KAMALA HARRIS: Vote! Vote! Vote!
HAGER: And for Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, many are saying this moment missed the mark.
HALLIE STEPHENS [ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT]: Exciting, right? But it’s not without controversy.
HAGER: Vogue releasing two versions of the cover online – a print version featuring the VP in a casual look wearing converse sneakers, and a second, more formal, digital cover. Reaction was swift and critical. Many criticizing the casual nature of the cover. One person tweeting, it was “disrespectful.” Noted Washington Post critic Robin Gavan writing, “The cover did not give Kamala D. Harris due respect. It was overly familiar. It was a cover image that, in effect, called Harris by her first name without invitation.” Even the Vice President-Elect’s niece tweeting, “Please don’t ask me about the cover, this week has been hard enough.”
MEENA HARRIS: It’s a big moment where we’ve elected the first woman in history, the first black woman in history and South Asian woman to hold the office of vice president in our country’s history. That is a huge historic moment.
HAGER: I sat down with Harris Monday to talk about her upcoming children’s book, Ambitious Girl, where she also shared her reaction to the cover.
HARRIS: It deserves the proper celebration of that moment, especially, you know, for a magazine that often has not had black women on the cover. I love the photos of the powder blue suit. I love those, and I think that Tyler is incredibly talented, and of course, the woman who wrote the article, it’s a lovely, amazing, inspiring interview.
HAGER: Both images were shot by photographer Tyler Mitchell who, in 2018, became the first black person to shoot a Vogue cover. Vogue releasing a statement, saying in part, “The team at Vogue loved the images Tyler Mitchell shot and felt the more informal image captured vice President-Elect Harris’s authentic, approachable nature – which we feel is one of the hallmarks of the Biden/Harris administration.” Adding, “We’re celebrating both images of her as covers digitally.” For Harris’s niece, the focus should be on her aunt’s message, not the controversial cover.
HARRIS: I think, again, it’s a big moment and I’m glad that, you know, Tyler captured images in that blue suit that I think are deserving of that, you know, of this extraordinary moment.
HAGER: And Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is also speaking out, telling The New York Times’s Kara Swisher, “Obviously we heard and understood the reaction to the print cover and I just want to reiterate that it was absolutely not our intention to, in any way, diminish the importance of the Vice President-Elect’s incredible victory.”
KOTB: Well, it certainly touched a nerve for sure. And if you look at the blue cover, like, I mean, that speaks to a cover.
HAGER: Well, that’s what Meena said. Meena said, “That’s my cover.”
MELVIN: Forgive my ignorance here, I don't read Vogue often. Do they always –
HAGER: You sure do.
MELVIN: Well, do they always have the digital cover and the print cover, do two separate covers?
HAGER: I don’t think they always do, no. I think in this case they did.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Feels like they had the cover and then they put another shot out. I don’t know if that’s what happened, but it sort of feels that way.
MELVIN: Okay. Thank you for that.
HAGER: And we should mention, y’all, we’ll have my full interview with Meena Harris on Friday. She is such an interesting woman in her own right.
MELVIN: Yes.
HAGER: She’s written this amazing book that we’re all gonna want to get, called Ambitious Girl, that I think you will all love.
KOTB: Alright.
MELVIN: And also has done a great deal of philanthropy as well, right?
HAGER: She has. And she’s an entrepreneur and does this crazy business called phenomenal.
GUTHRIE: My favorite is she said, “Don’t ask me about the cover,” and Jenna was like –
MELVIN: “Let me ask you about the cover.” [Laughter]
KOTB: You were like –
HAGER: By the way, you all should have asked her when one of my least favorite questions, “Do you want to run for politics?”
GUTHRIE: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
MELVIN: JBH, thank you.
GUTHRIE: Thank you, Jenna.
