If history is any indication, Kamala Harris will face an onslaught of attacks about her gender.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on August 26, 2024.

OTTAWA–Former U.S. president Donald Trump was unusually quiet during the rollout of the Democratic National Convention.

He seemed to be heeding the advice of those who have suggested to the former president that he needs to start debating issues, and to stay away from personalities.

That was the public Trump last week. But the private Trump is not so circumspect. According to multiple news reports, he often refers to his opponent, Vice-President Kamala Harris, as a “bitch.”

Those reports appeared to be confirmed when his former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, appeared at the Democratic convention to denounce her former boss and tell the world how Trump also mocked his own supporters as “basement dwellers”.

Grisham denounced Trump as someone with “no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth.”

She recounted a story when the former president visited a hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was upset that cameras were focused on the dying patients, not him.

The Democratic gathering was rife with speakers who opined on why Trump was unsuitable as a commander-in-chief. But some also warned that the love-in people felt at the Chicago, Ill., gathering would quickly turn sour in the uphill battle leading to election day.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama suggested that Harris, the Democratic candidate, would face “ugly, misogynistic, racist lies” in the next 75 days. If history is any indication, she will face an onslaught of attacks. Chances are her gender will be a more popular line of attack than her race.

Trump has already put his foot in his mouth by falsely claiming that Harris is not Black. Trump made the statement in a speech to the National Association of Black Journalists when he drew a shocked reaction after stating, “I’ve known her for long time… and she was always of Indian heritage… I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now, she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

Trump shut down that line of attack after criticism from Democrats and Republicans.

Harris’ father is Jamaican, and she has consistently embraced her racial identity since joining a historically Black sorority at a historically Black university.

Attacks on her Blackness have been silenced, but we can expect gender name-calling to continue right up to election day on Nov. 5.

It seems that racial epithets are a lot more politically risky than gender slurs.

Just last week, the CBC published a story outlining the shocking level of misogyny facing female politicians on social media. The British-based Centre for Countering Digital Hate published a report stating that Instagram ignored 926 of 1,000 reported abusive comments targeting American female politicians on the app.

The not-for profit monitoring centre focused on comments left on the accounts of 10 politicians, including Harris.

Most were not removed after complaints, including comments like “make rape legal”, “death to her,” and “we don’t want blacks around us.”

Instagram owner Meta has guidelines which allow “stronger conversation” when it involves people like politicians and other public figures who are often in the news.

The Instagram exposé did not surprise those of us who have faced misogyny during and after a life in politics.

On a fairly regular basis, I am insulted when I post or repost items on X. As well as getting death threats and being told to die, I have been attacked as an over-the-hill alcoholic, “Tequila Sheila” hag. The Tequila Sheila name-calling actually came from a moniker given to me by a former Conservative minister.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Catherine McKenna left politics in part because she was tired of the attacks and stalking that she faced as a woman politician. Her office was spray-painted with unprintable insults, and her opponents in the Conservative Party labelled her “climate Barbie” because of her interest in fighting climate change.

Harris has been in politics for a long time, and no doubt will not be cowed by the attacks she will face because of her gender and race.

Obama levelled her own personal attacks during a fiery convention speech, saying Trump may be told “that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’” to a roar of crowd approval.

Trump must be seething over how his presidential trajectory has been reversed since Republicans celebrated his escape from an assassin’s bullet literally days before their convention last month.

Expect Trump supporters to respond with more misogyny on social media.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet has vigorously denied the allegations and challenged his accuser to go to the police so charges can be tested in a court of law.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on July 20, 2020.

OTTAWA—Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is the latest victim of social media internet justice.

Twenty-one-year-old anonymous allegations surfaced last week against Blanchet, accusing him of “sexual misconduct” in 1999 in a biker bar bathroom in Montreal, at an after-party for a rock group he managed.

Blanchet has vigorously denied the allegations and challenged his accuser to go to the police so charges can be tested in a court of law.

But the court of public opinion has already weighed in on Twitter and in the mainstream media with a vicious tone that is the flavour of the month.

Blanchet’s accuser posted her claim on a website set up to give victims a voice. The allegation topped a roller-coaster week of accusations against Quebec entertainers and media elites.

Even the premier’s wife, Isabelle Brais, got into the act, posting on Instagram in French, exhorting “knights, princes and gentlemen” to challenge those she describes as their “deviant brothers” who “stain your reputation and put you into their boat of s–t.”

She finished by asking everyone to let her know what they think.

The whole of Quebec is weighing in on the debate.

With Blanchet facing an anonymous accuser, more unproven allegations will likely follow.

What is truly bizarre is that mainstream media is stoking the flames with its own sensational coverage.

In the case of the Montreal Gazette, the anonymous accuser was interviewed and said she thought her attacker was bald and that his last name was François. Before the arrival of social media accusations, newspapers would never have printed the allegations, unless they were corroborated by another credible witness.

But all the old rules have gone out the window and the traditional media is forced to chase the tail of the social media dog.

Brais posted her Instagram comments before the allegations against Blanchet had surfaced but her call to Quebecers to let her know what they think will not go unheard.

The high-level shout-out to speak up could become a slippery slope of more social media justice.

Allegations should always be taken seriously, but Blanchet is right. The best place to deal with these allegations is by filing a complaint with the police.

In the current climate, reported allegations have to be taken seriously. But it will also be very hard to prove a 21-year-old claim without any witnesses.

But simply throwing out the accusation in the social media world does nothing to secure justice and simply besmirches the reputation of the accused, who has little power over anonymous allegations.

Unfortunately, like it or not, some of the dirt is going to stick.

And that is why direct accusations of this nature need to be raised in a court of law, not in a social media setting.

As long as anonymous complaints are given credibility by coverage in the mainstream media, we do a disservice to those who should face their accusers in a court of law.

The justice system used to be tipped against complainants who alleged sexual misconduct, assault, and improprieties.

Now it appears the pendulum has swung the opposite way. You are guilty until proven innocent.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.