Kamala Harris has removed a link to the vice presidential account from her Instagram.
The former U.S. vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate finished her tenure as second-in-command on Monday after four years in office.
Newsweek contacted Harris’ office by email on Tuesday morning for comment.
Why It Matters
The official social media accounts of senior leaders in the U.S. government, including the president, the vice president and the first lady, are handed over to the incoming leaders at the end of a term, should they not be reelected.
Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president in a ceremony at Capitol Hill on Monday. He and Vice President J.D. Vance replaced President Joe Biden and Harris after winning the 2024 election for the Republican party.
Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images
What To Know
The bio on Harris’ official Instagram account describes her as a politician and someone who is “always fighting for the people”. It previously read “fighting for the people.”
Before Monday, her bio also linked to the official account for the vice president of the United States, but this was removed after Trump’s inauguration.
Harris’ bio also describes her as a “Wife, Momala, Auntie” and includes her gender pronouns as “She/her.” Momala is the nickname given to Harris by her stepchildren, Cole and Ella Emhoff, who she shares with her husband, Doug Emhoff.
The first official transition of social media occurred in 2017 when President Barack Obama left office and was replaced by Trump for his first term in the White House.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, the handle @POTUS is made available to an incoming president on the day of the inauguration. The account retains its followers but has no tweets on the timeline, according to the White House website.
A newly created handle that includes “POTUS” followed by the outgoing president’s number is then made to contain their tweets, which remain accessible to the public. For example, in Trump’s first tenure as president, he was the 45th commander-in-chief and the tweets from that term under the POTUS handle are preserved as @POTUS45.
The National Archives and Records Administration maintains the archived social media accounts.
The same policy applies to the social media handles of the White House, First Lady or Gentleman, White House Press Secretary and Vice President.
On Instagram and Facebook, the incoming White House gains access to the White House username and URL, and retains the existing followers, but also starts with no content on the timeline.
What People Are Saying
People on X noticed the edit and took to the platform to share their thoughts.
“Anyone else notice that Kamala changed her bio on Instagram! 🩷 It’s gone from “For the people” to “Always fighting for the people” 👀,” wrote @always_kamala.
One person noticed that the bio had not changed by the time Vance was sworn in.
“Kamala’s bio still has the link for VP but it is already JD Vance🤣,” wrote @iCobalt1.
What Happens Next
Harris has not indicated her future career plans, but she has returned to her home in Los Angeles and vowed to keep fighting for causes she believes in.
“I will tell you that everyone here has so much to be proud of, and our work is not done,” Harris told staffers on Monday after participating in the long-standing vice presidential tradition of signing the desk on the last day in office.
“And as you all know me—because we have spent long hours, long days and months and years together—it is not my nature to go quietly into the night, so don’t worry about that.”
