What Kamala Harris’s wired headphones tell us about US politics today

My favourite confected media scandal was Mustardgate. Shortly after being sworn into office, Barack Obama ordered a burger in public, and asked for Dijon mustard. A smart choice, in my view – a tangy, sharp punch to counteract a fatty meat patty that’d also play well with the mysterious substance that is American cheese.

But Sean Hannity, and several others on the right, turned it into a mini-scandal. It was, they hinted, rather effete for the commander-in-chief to deviate from plain old yellow mustard from the squeezy container. One chyron branded him President Poupon, after the Grey Poupon brand of mustard.

This is a long way of saying that extreme scrutiny of the president’s actions is not new.

A US president oversees a modern-day empire, travels with the pomp and ceremony of a medieval king in his prime, and is the unquestioned pre-eminent world leader. With a powerful press operation that limits media inquiries, that leaves DC wags to – sometimes – sniff around the edges for any hint of drama.

I’ve said before in this dispatch that I’m a sucker for those 5,000-word Atlantic and Politico deep dives on who’s in, and who’s out, in the circles that matter. But the latter publication went too far this week, in the eyes of some of Joe Biden’s staunchest defenders.

The website’s daily insider newsletter drew attention to vice president Kamala Harris’s suspicion of Bluetooth devices and her consequent aversion to using non-wired headphones. It wasn’t presented in end-of-world terms, which is what you’d assume from the reaction of some of its critics, but the sniffy tone was jarring for an issue so minor.

The whole thing tossed fuel on the fire around which many very online Democrats continue to warm themselves – that any negativity toward Biden from the mainstream media is unwarranted, because any negative actions pale into insignificance compared to Trump.

But the truth is that the media – rightly, in many instances – was in near-constant five-alarm fire mode throughout Trump’s presidency. And by comparison, Biden is leading a far less erratic administration, with a slicker communications shop, and zero governing via tweet. Most coverage reflects that.

But there are fires burning that are yet to be extinguished. Inflation is really high; the economic bounce-back is shaky; people still feel that the nation is very divided; extensive Covid restrictions remain, and deaths and hospitalisations are high heading into winter.

So while eye-rolling over beltway trivialities like fancy mustard and wired headphones is justified, throwing tantrums over combative White House coverage really isn’t.

Yours,

Dave Maclean

US Indy100 editor