On Tuesday August 11, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden announced that Sen. Kamala Harris would serve as his vice president running mate. The announcement both thrilled and dismayed sects of voters, but it also opened up Harris to further scrutiny due to her Indian-Jamaican heritage. One particular Newsweek article is under fire for questioning Harris’ constitutional eligibility to run.

“Her father was (and is) a Jamaican national, her mother was from India, and neither was a naturalized U.S. citizen at the time of Harris’ birth in 1964,” wrote law professor John C. Eastman on August 12. “That, according to these commentators, makes her not a “natural born citizen”—and therefore…ineligible for the office of the vice president.”

Concerned, and outraged, citizens took no time calling out what they believe to be accusations rooted in bigotry. They think that these call outs are a form of “birtherism,” a conspiracy theory first used in an attempt to delegitimize President Obama’s appointment with claims that he was born outside of the United States.

“[S]o this dumbass is literally using a technicality in the constitution to start a birther movement against [H]arris…,” wrote one disgruntled Twitter user. “Jfc these racists aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.”

After the backlash began, Newsweek added an editor’s note to the article.

“Some readers reacted strongly to this essay, seeing it as an attempt to ignite a racist conspiracy theory,” it read. “That is entirely inaccurate[.]”
It included a link to aseparate, more lengthy passage about the initial column piece being more of an intellectual line of questioning instead of an attack.

What do you think? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter.

Photo credit: Getty Images