- Jen Psaki said Kamala Harris faces more criticism because she's the first woman and first woman of color to serve as VP.
- The comments come as Harris has faced low public approval ratings and bad press coverage.
- Harris brushed aside the news reports on Thursday.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday said "absolutely" Vice President Kamala Harris faces more criticism because she's the first woman and first woman of color to hold the second-highest office in the country.
"I do think that it has been easier and harsher from some on the right-wing who have gone after her because she is the first woman, the first woman of color," Psaki said during a virtual interview with Politico. "I think there's no question that the type of attacks, the attacks on her, that certainly being the first, which she is many times over, is part of that."
Psaki added that Harris' history-making role as the first woman and the first Black and Indian woman to serve as vice president is "a lot to have on your shoulders."
"I do think there has been some attacks that are beyond because of her identity," Psaki said.
The comments come as Harris has received low public approval ratings. A recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that only 28% of Americans approved of the job Harris is doing as VP. The last time a vice president's rating was so low was in 2007.
Harris has also faced bad press coverage for months as several news outlets have reported about internal drama at the White House between Harris' staffers and those to President Joe Biden. The reports have also highlighted dysfunction and exasperation among staffers in the VP's office.
CNN reported this week that Harris' staffers feel annoyed with the White House's treatment of the vice president and some have said that she's being sidelined.
Psaki rejected the reports in a press briefing earlier this week, saying that "they don't reflect [Biden's] view or our experience with the vice president." Spokespeople for Harris have also shut down the reports.
Psaki also defended Harris on Twitter, writing that she's a "vital partner" to Biden and has "taken on key, important challenges facing the country—from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband."
The press secretary reiterated her support for Harris in the Politico interview on Wednesday.
"She is somebody who ... wants to be seen as the talented, experienced expert, substantive policy person, partner to the president that she is," Psaki said.
Harris herself brushed over the news in an interview with "Good Morning America" on Thursday.
"You don't feel misused or underused?" host George Stephanopoulos asked Harris.
"No," Harris said. "I don't. I'm very, very excited about the work that we have accomplished. But I am also absolutely, absolutely clear-eyed that there is a lot more to do, and we're gonna get it done."
Since Biden announced Harris as his running mate last year, far-right figures and Republicans have targeted her with sexist and racist attacks, from name-calling to questioning her citizenship. Just this week, Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested that Harris is not really an American because she spent some of her schooling in Canada. Harris is an American who was born in Oakland, California.
Around 49% of American adults said that gender discrimination is a major reason that there are fewer women than men in higher office, according to a Pew Research survey from 2018.