Character assassination in politics: Gendered and racialized attacks on Kamala Harris

Verbal, printed, or broadcast attacks on politicians are commonplace. Female politicians have been targets of such attacks for years. To investigate the character assassination of female politicians as a form of political conflict, this entry features a thematic analysis of character attacks in the media targeting Kamala Harris. Using a dataset of large, mainstream publications, we inductively identified three main themes: her alleged meanness, her inauthenticity, and her questionable citizenship status. These themes are linked to gendered and racialized behavior, supporting the notion that character attacks circulate in unique cultural and political contexts but are a main venue for political conflict. This analysis illustrates the normalization of character attacks in media outlets seen as mainstream, centrist, and reputable. We argue that the tendency of mainstream, centrist media to strive for “impartiality of facts” may at times be conducive to attempts at character assassination. We also show the unique ways that gender and race intertwine in attacks targeting women of color in politics.