US Election: Kamala Harris thanks supporters in victory speech

The upcoming Vice President of the United States appears on Forbes’ list below Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The magazine said Ms Harris’ recent rise through US politics has “catapulted” her into the list for the first time.

Forbes listed Ms Harris’ upcoming vice presidential role as one of her notable achievements.

Reacting to the news, Twitter users hit out at the Forbes list as well as Ms Harris herself.

One said: “It’s as if Forbes doesn’t know that the Speaker of the US House of Representatives both has more power than a Vice President and is a woman.”

We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

One user described Ms Harris as a “sociopath” because of an old law she hailed that ended up jailing parents for not preventing their children from skipping school.

Ms Harris took a focus on long-term school absences during her 2010 campaign for state attorney general in California.

At the time, she said in a speech that “a child going without an education is tantamount to a crime”.

READ: Biden crisis as Trump ally SUES four battleground states over US election results

She told the Commonwealth Club in San Franciso: “So I decided I was going to start prosecuting parents for truancy.”

Ms Harris’ crackdown on parents faced backlash, with community activists claiming vulnerable families would be hit hardest by the toughened laws, the Huffington Post reported.

Several years later, the upcoming vice-president expressed “regret that I have now heard stories where, in some jurisdictions, DAs have criminalised the parents”.

DON’T MISS:
UK’s secret weapon: Johnson hoping Merkel ‘will step in’ at last minute to save trade deal [BREXIT]
Trump Supreme Court: Can SCOTUS change the election results? [INSIGHT]
Joe Biden reaches out to Trump supporters in victory speech – ‘Not our enemies!’ [ANALYSIS]

Meanwhile, regarding the Forbes list, another Twitter user wrote: “Love Kamala Harris but I don’t think she deserves to be in top 5.

“Forbes needs to remove the eyepatch and give Jacinda [Ardern] the place she deserves.”

Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, came 32nd on the list.

Others were supportive of Ms Harris. One said: “That woman is a gem. They are lucky to have her.”

Kamala Harris is due to become Vice-President of the United States when Joe Biden is inaugurated in January next year.

Forbes said of the women featured in its list: “Where they differ in age, nationality and job description, they are united in the ways they have been using their platforms to address the unique challenges of 2020.”

It also pointed to a quote by Norway’s Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, who said countries where “women are able to reach top positions in society are also the countries that are best-equipped to handle crises by Covid-19”.

Meanwhile, other women featured on the list include Queen Elizabeth II, who placed 46th.

Forbes commended her for “still setting the tone at public events and receiving world leaders at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle” at the age of 94.

It is also the tenth time in a row that Angela Merkel topped the list.

Source: Read Full Article