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It\u2019s a Veep<\/em> kind of world. Or at least that\u2019s how it feels during this chaotic election season, as mounting pressure for President Joe Biden<\/strong> to yield his candidacy<\/a> to Veep Kamala Harris<\/strong> has inspired a fresh wave of social media memes<\/a> and commentary<\/a> comparing Harris to fictional vice president Selina Meyer.<\/p>\n Portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus<\/strong><\/a> over seven seasons of HBO\u2019s acidic comedy, Meyer grew increasingly power-hungry and amoral, refusing to give up even as she repeatedly had the carpet pulled out from under her like a West Wing Charlie Brown. \u201cYou know what VP<\/em> stands for? Victory Permafucked!\u201d Selina shouts in season three. When the president announces that he will be stepping down, allowing her to finally move into the Oval Office, she radiates<\/a> glee\u2014but then loses her reelection bid and has to start the game all over.<\/p>\n Veep<\/em> premiered in 2012, at the height of the Obama-Biden administration. Showrunner David Mandel<\/strong> (who took over from creator Armando Iannucci<\/strong>) says in an interview that the show felt at home in the Obama years: \u201cIt was nice to have this very cynical show, because it seemed like we were in less cynical times.\u201d By the time of the Veep<\/em> finale<\/a> in 2019, however, Trumpworld had taken over, and it was hard to compete with an administration that often seemed to have been plucked from the mind of a sadistic satirist. The show couldn\u2019t compete, and as Mandel says, \u201cWe just had to get out of the building.\u201d<\/p>\n In the years since its finale, Veep<\/em> has become pop culture code for political hypocrisy and bumbling. But its shadow hangs most heavily over Harris, the first real woman to hold the office of vice president. A few years ago, The Daily Show<\/em> took easy shots with a segment called \u201cThe Kamala Harris Veep Reboot<\/a>\u201d that juxtaposed her double-talk with that of Selina Meyer\u2019s. Others have compared her blunders (like the time she cluelessly clapped along<\/a> with a group protesting against her) to the comedic plot twists of Veep.<\/em> The comparisons go deep enough that they\u2019ve even colored Harris\u2019s view of her job. She recalled<\/a> for Stephen Colbert<\/strong> a Veep<\/em>-like incident in which an aide tried to be proactive by lighting her office fireplace\u2014and accidentally filled the whole place with smoke. \u201cSecret Service was like, \u2018Ma\u2019am, you cannot go back to your office,\u2019\u201d she said with a laugh, later adding, \u201cI, too, love that show.\u201d<\/p>\n Mandel is flattered by the ongoing resonance of the series, and often finds himself comparing real political double-talk to Selina. \u201cBut that goes for every<\/em> candidate in the world, not only for women<\/em> candidates,\u201d he says emphatically. \u201cI understand that people all over the internet are dying to make the narrative somehow that Kamala is Selina. I personally choose not to accept it. It\u2019s too simplistic, and I don\u2019t think they\u2019re doing it in a fun way. I think they\u2019re doing it to try and somehow make her seem less than,<\/em> and I don\u2019t enjoy it.\u201d Or as he puts it later in our conversation, \u201cVeep<\/em> is ever so slightly getting weaponized against Kamala.\u201d<\/p>\n If anything, Mandel believes Mike Pence<\/strong> made a much more suitable Veep<\/em> stand-in. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing more Selina Meyer than her almost getting hanged by President Hughes\u2019s followers on January 6,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s your ultimate Veep<\/em> storyline!\u201d<\/p>\n Still, he understands why people might chuckle at Harris\u2019s occasional linguistic fumble or awkwardness, as in the coconut tree clip that has gone viral. \u201cI don\u2019t quite know what she was trying to say, and she may not quite know what she was trying to say,\u201d Mandel says. \u201cWe live in this insane world where every speech gets parsed and every sentence is a meme. But in terms of the scale, I don\u2019t find that one one-hundredth as funny as denying<\/a> that you had something to do with Project 2025 when it\u2019s created by your people and you are all over it,\u201d as Trump recently did. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing more Selina than trying to disown something that is one hundred percent yours.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n