'Kicking the felon out of the race': Dems are obsessed with Kamala Harris' sneakers
Democratic Party voters have a message for the nation about Vice President Kamala Harris: I'm with her sneakers.
Specifically, they're with Harris' preferred Converse Chuck Taylor shoes, or Chucks, as she mounts a campaign against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
"It's time to make Chuck Taylors symbolic for this election," wrote Fordham University Professor Benjamin M. Cole. "Kamala kicking the felon out of the race."
President Joe Biden's announcement that he would step aside from the 2024 presidential nomination and endorse Harris instead has spurred a slew of demands from the Nike-owned company for Harris-themed sneakers.
"I am going to request this daily until I am given an answer, whether it be ‘yay’ or ‘nay’" wrote X user @622pm. "Can @Converse please make a limited edition pair of #ChuckTaylors with #MadamPresident on them in honor of this momentous #Harris2024 campaign?"
"We need a #KamalasRunning fan account for her shoes alone," added Dr. Judith A. Miller. "She is on her way. @Converse & the campaign need to come up with shoe merch for us."
Raw Story reached out to Nike to ask if Converse had seen an uptick in sales, would consider a Harris-themed sneaker and would those sneakers be gold and cost $399, but did not receive an immediate response.
Trump, meanwhile, has updated his own sneaker line to include assassination attempt-themed footwear with a picture of his bloody face and the words "Fight fight fight." They cost $299.
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The former president's predilection for merch spurred one Harris supporter to quip, "Kamala Harris raised over 100M without selling a sneaker or Bible."
It seems that does not mean Harris' supporters won't be expressing their political fervor via sneaker.
"Its gonna be Chuck Taylors only for me for the next 104 days," wrote X user @V_G_Plus.
"I need a pair of Kamala Harris x Converse Chuck Taylors, stat," wrote Kristine Kenyon.
"So this is the 'wear your pearls and Chuck Taylors to the polls' year?" asked Tracy O'Connell Novick.
Stanford University professor Dr. Cesar Padilla has noted that there is a powerful underlying political message in Harris' choice of sneaker.
"Kamala Harris’s shoes - Chuck Taylor’s/Tims are worn in working class (Black/Latinx) neighborhoods," Padilla wrote in 2020. "Kids wearing Vans/Jordan’s/Tims should imagine walking into the White House as Prez/VP."