Lawyer-turned-entrepreneur Meena Harris has reportedly raised eyebrows in the White House for allegedly using her famous aunt Kamala’s name to build her own brand, reports the LA Times. Kamala Harris was sworn in as the Vice President of the United States on January 20, 2021 along with President Joe Biden.
Around this time, 36-year-old Meena who is an author, owns a charitable clothing brand called Phenomenal and has over 8,00,000 followers on Instagram, appeared on the Today show with host Jenna Bush Hager, who is the daughter of former president George W. Bush. She was seen sporting a Phenomenal T-Shirt with the words “Ambitious” on it. This was for promoting her book titled Ambitious Girl, that came out just a day before Kamala Harris was sworn in.
Meena has also authored a book titled Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea, where one of the characters appears to be named after her famous aunt, and the other is the name of Meena’s mother. So far, Meena has also appeared on The View and has been profiled in Vanity Fair and the New York Times.
According to the LA Times article, Meena, who was an unpaid campaign representative, has allegedly “meshed her personal brand with her aunt’s ascendant political career.” The article also goes on to say that Meena has allegedly used “that publicity to promote her lifestyle brand, which has over time capitalized on Kamala Harris’ name, likeness, life history and political slogans to produce clothing, videos, bestselling children’s books and designer headphones.”
Meena had also come up with a line of products that appeared to be inspired by Kamala Harris including a Vice President Aunty sweatshirts, and Harris themes swimsuits that were previously sold. She had also collaborated to produce special-edition Beats by Dre headphones that used Kamala’s popular slogan, “The first, but not the last.” Meena’s brand Phenomenal’s online store continues to sell sweatshirts bearing the words, “I’m speaking”, which was a quote that went viral after the Vice-Presidential debate.
A White House official, speaking to LA Times on the condition of anonymity said, “Some things can’t be undone,” adding, “That being said: Behaviour needs to change.”
Meena for her part issued a statement via her public relations firm saying, “Since the beginning of the campaign, I have insisted on upholding all legal and ethical standards and will continue to strictly adhere to the ethics rules of the Biden/Harris White House.” The statement further said, “With regards to Phenomenal, it was always our plan to remove the likeness of the Vice President from the website before the Inauguration, and refrain from using her likeness in any products or campaigns going forward.”
Meanwhile, Meena Harris has raised concerns about the Indian administration’s treatment of protesting farmers, as well as the arrest of trade-union activist Nodeep Kaur.
Weird to see a photo of yourself burned by an extremist mob but imagine what they would do if we lived in India. I’ll tell you—23 yo labor rights activist Nodeep Kaur was arrested, tortured & sexually assaulted in police custody. She’s been detained without bail for over 20 days. pic.twitter.com/Ypt2h1hWJz
— Meena Harris (@meenaharris) February 5, 2021
This isn’t just about agricultural policy. It’s also about the persecution of a vocal religious minority. It’s police violence, militant nationalism, and attacks on labor rights. It’s global authoritarianism. Don’t tell me to stay out of your affairs. These are all of our issues.
— Meena Harris (@meenaharris) February 5, 2021
Related:
Nodeep Kaur’s ‘illegal confinement’: Punjab and Haryana HC take suo motu cognisance