ABC News failed to disclose that Kamala Harris and ABC News anchor Linsey Davis, who co-moderated Tuesday night’s debate between Harris and President Trump, are sorority sisters in the influential Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. AKA formed a PAC in August after Harris became the Democrats’ presidential nominee.
The sorority connection is one more possible clue as to why the debate moderated by Davis and ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir was so one-sided in favor of Harris. Muir and Davis interrupted Trump numerous times to fact check and argue with him while they did not fact check Harris even one time.
While the sorority connection was not mentioned at the debate, Davis did speak about it during ABC’s coverage of the Biden-Harris inaugural in January 2021:
Debate conflict of interest with ABC moderator Linsey Davis CONFIRMED. She is a sorority sister of Kamala Harris, and even confirmed it on a live broadcast 3 1/2 years ago. pic.twitter.com/eoJihVpZp1
— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) September 12, 2024
January 20, 2021, ABC’s Linsey Davis: “Pearls are a symbol of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc…and the strand of pearls is symbolic of the unity and the sisterhood.”https://t.co/swFx26WmrR
— Kristinn Taylor (@KristinnFR) September 12, 2024
Davis did not mention the sorority connection when she interviewed Harris in 2023:
Harris became an AKA while attending Howard University in the 1980s. Davis became a member of the Theta Kappa chapter of AKA while attending the University of Virginia in the 1990s.
Harris had a nickname in her sorority chapter according to the Bay State Banner (excerpt):
The women also had nicknames, and Harris’ poised personality earned her the tag of C-cubed, or C3, “which stood for ‘calm, cool and collected,’” said Kelch, vice president of media relations at Mercury Public Affairs and national president of nonprofit Mocha Moms. “Everybody knew that Kamala was calm and cool and collected under stress, under deadlines, under anything that we had to do together.”
Harris hosted some of her fellow AKA sisters at the vice president’s residence in 2022, according to the Bay State Banner report.
Harris skipped attending an address to a joint session of Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 10 to speak to the AKA 71st Boulé held in Dallas:
The AKAs formed a political action committee in August after Harris claimed the Democrat presidential nomination from Joe Biden, reported Politico (excerpt):
Alpha Kappa Alpha, the historically Black sorority that counts Vice President Kamala Harris as one of its most notable alumni, has created a political action committee, an unusual venture by a sorority rallying around the chance to send one of its own to the White House.
AKA is part of a collective of the country’s oldest and most prestigious sororities and fraternities known as the “Divine Nine,” whose network of more than 2 million alumni represents a massive political force among a constituency that both parties are hoping to mobilize ahead of November’s election.
…The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, will be able to accept donations of up to $5,000 from members of the sorority and their families to support federal campaigns and political parties. Kiahna Davis, a regional director at AKA for the Central region, is listed as the PAC’s treasurer. Neither Davis nor the PAC responded to a request for comment.
Harris has long spoken fondly of AKA — whose members she has likened to “family” — along with the other Divine Nine sororities and fraternities.
The vice president’s first public event after becoming the de facto Democratic nominee was an appearance at a national gathering for another Divine Nine sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, and she addressed Alpha Kappa Alpha’s gathering, or Boulé, earlier this summer. And a rally she held in Atlanta shortly afterward featured just a small sampling of Divine Nine alumni in political power.
In July, WBEZ-TV reported on the pride the AKA sisters felt for one of their own (excerpt):
AKA sorority sisters filled with pride as Kamala Harris steps in for Joe Biden weeks before DNC
Individual members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — whose headquarters are in Chicago — have begun mobilizing in masses to support their “soror” in the historic race for president.
…As a nonprofit organization, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., remains nonpartisan, but across the country, individual members have begun mobilizing in masses for their “soror.”
“Kamala Harris is a member of the D9 (the “Divine Nine”) and she reflects the values that exist in us already,” Davis said. “We should not be surprised when people are energized because they see a path for their future, in the present, sitting there at the top of the ticket.”
AKA was founded on the campus of Howard University in 1908, making it the country’s oldest historically Black sorority. The organization, which is headquartered on the South Side of Chicago, now has more than 300,000 initiated members worldwide.
Background reports on the Divine Nine:
The Divine Nine: These Black fraternities and sororities were founded to support students often denied rights at predominately white colleges.@PriscillaWT takes a look at leaders like @KamalaHarris and @RepJeffries that the organizations helped shape.https://t.co/U4UZMHn7bF pic.twitter.com/GcuwUYvsr4
— NBC News NOW (@NBCNewsNow) February 24, 2021
Vice President Harris’ campaign is getting a boost from the Divine Nine, a group of historically Black fraternities and sororities. @Rene_MarshCNN takes a look at the political influence they hold and how they’re helping to shape the 2024 election. pic.twitter.com/kPbA1HzaQk
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) August 2, 2024
Photo from a 2021 White House meeting with Harris:
Alpha Kappa Alpha International President and CEO Dr. Glenda Glover and fellow Divine Nine leaders pose for a photo prior to meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/FbgzUxoEWY
— Alpha Kappa Alpha (@akasorority1908) October 7, 2021
Harris was given a hero’s welcome at the AKA Boulé in 2022:
Madam @vp being greeted with thunderous applause by more than 13,000 members of her beloved sorority! #AKABoule2022 #AKAExcellence pic.twitter.com/uGfVmcafuu
— Alpha Kappa Alpha (@akasorority1908) July 15, 2022
And just like that, @vp was home among her beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. sorority sisters! Vice President Kamala Harris was welcomed with opened arms and greeted with thunderous applause during the 70th Boule in Orlando, FL. She delivered rousing and inspiring remarks. pic.twitter.com/BUuwkKooR5
— Alpha Kappa Alpha (@akasorority1908) July 14, 2022
Given the strong support for Harris by Alpha Kappa Alpha, Davis should have disclosed their sorority connection at the start of the debate.
