Kamala Harris says her campaign is being targeted by Russian bots

2020 presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) claimed in a radio interview that her campaign is being targeted online by social media bots of Russian origin, according to the Washington Times.

Harris’ assertion came after she was asked if she thought she would be targeted by the bots. “Oh, we already know we are,” Harris answered.

She did not give any specific evidence of her claims, however, and declined to comment further on the matter.

Rise of the bots

Harris has seen a bump in the polls since the first round of presidential primary debates. Some polls even have her as the frontrunner over former Vice President Joe Biden, though still within the margin of error.

But in spite of her increasing popularity, social media hasn’t been kind to the former California attorney general. Harris faced criticism during and after the debates when some criticized her for capitalizing on the history of blacks in the U.S. even though she is reportedly not a descendant of American slaves, the Washington Times reported.

According to reports, Twitter accounts linked to bots in the past posted similar claims about the senator, which triggered researchers to claim that bots were responsible.

“People start getting swept up into it,” Harris, who has an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, said of the accounts.

Campaign criticism

Meanwhile, the so-called bots are not the only ones who have been critical of Harris so far in her campaign.

Harris’ own father, a college professor, has also distanced himself from the senator’s campaign after she joked about smoking marijuana and the stereotypes about Jamaicans often doing so.

Reports from sites like the Washington Examiner have also highlighted Harris’ relationship with the much-older Willie Brown, then the Democratic speaker of the California State Assembly, who allegedly helped Harris land her first influential role in politics — a seat on the California Medical Assistance Commission, which reportedly paid a salary of over $70,000 per year.

Brown was 60 and Harris just 30 years old at the time of their relationship. She had no background in medicine, and was reportedly decades younger than the board’s other members.

But will these controversies be enough to keep Harris off the ticket in 2020? Only time will tell.