Photo: Instagram
A conservative activist confronted Senator Harris in the airport.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on May 01, 2019
Kamala Harris has garnered a lot of attention for her progressive views and personable approach to the 2020 presidential campaign. In campaign appearances and in her work as a Senator from California, she is direct and unflappable. This calm demeanor came into play when she had a minor confrontation with a woman in an airport recently. The 2020 contender was in the process of posing for a photo with a supporter when conservative activist Anna Paulina approached her and tried to start asking questions. The Senator and a member of her staff both told Paulina that Harris was busy at the moment but Paulina took the opportunity to try and question Harris on her views on border enforcement. Harris left to catch her flight without ever addressing Paulina directly. Who is Ann Paulina? Read on for all the details.
1. Child of immigrants
Paulina, who is the Director of Hispanic Engagement at Turning Point USA, is the child of immigrants from Mexico. Her official bio says “Anna Paulina is a Southern California native and a second-generation American with extended family still residing in Mexico. At the age of 19, she enlisted in the United States Air Force to serve our country and as a means to achieve her educational aspirations.” She goes on to say “She is a graduate of the University of West Florida where she modeled professionally as a means of paying for expenses that the GI bill did not cover. Some of her work has been used by Sports Illustrated, Maxim magazine and Rockstar, Inc. She served two enlistments, one active-duty and one with the United States Air National Guard. She currently is engaged with five nonprofits that focus on Veteran's issues including PTSD, Service-member therapy and recovery, and humanitarian medical missions overseas.”
A veteran, Paulina is a proponent of gun rights.
2. Military
Both she and her husband have served in the US military. Paulina was in the Air Force and has remained involved in veteran’s issues, even raising money for Homes for Wounded Warriors through a modeling competition through Maxim magazine, according to the website The Heavy. Her husband, who was an Air Force Combat Controller was shot and wounded in Afghanistan. Paulina says she took a hiatus from college to care for him after he was injured and returned to school only after he had recovered sufficiently. She also wrote a book called Marrying the Beret, which is described as “a story of love and war based on real life experiences from the men and women who fight and sacrifice to defend our country.”
Paulina is vocal on immigration and veterans affairs.
3. Turning Point USA
Paulina currently works as the Director for Hispanic Engagement at Turning Point USA, a conservative group for young people. Founded by activist Charlie Kirk, the organization’s website says: “Turning Point USA’s mission is to educate students about the importance of fiscal responsibility, free markets and limited government. Through non-partisan debate, dialogue and discussion, Turning Point USA believes that every young person can be enlightened to true free market values.” TPUSA also runs a site called the Professor Watchlist, which describes its work as “The mission of Professor Watchlist is to expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.” Conservative media personality Candace Owens has also been employed at TPUSA.
Tunring Point operates on campuses across the country.
4. Confronting Kamala
Paulina has been an outspoken supporter of the current President and she believes that building a wall across the southern border will reduce human trafficking and crime overall. Her confrontation in the airport had to do with her desire to speak with Senator Harris about her stance on border issues. The Senator is a staunch critic of the current policy of family separation at the border and has criticized the administration for failing to reunify families despite court orders. Paulina approached her to discuss this and was rebuffed by both the Senator and a staff member who told Paulina that Harris had already agreed to take a photo with other people before Paulina approached. Paulina, who was apparently being filmed by someone who was with her, kept talking, saying: “You are directly impacting the Hispanic demographic in a negative way. You are directly impacting what is happening to the children in this country and you are not doing what you are supposed to do as a representative, representing women in this country. Shame on you. You are not going to win.” She also said: “She’s damaging what’s happening to Hispanic women and children at the border because she’s promoting family reunification.” Harris ultimately walked away without speaking to Paulina further.
Paulina confronted Harris in an airport.
5. Controversy
This isn’t the first time Paulina has received backlash over her comments to or about a Democratic politician. During a segment on Fox News last year, Fox News host Rick Leventhal was talking about Hillary Clinton and her email controversy. Leventhal said: “I am amazed that with everything going on in the world, we still have Hillary Clinton in the headlines.” Paulina interrupted him and said: “She won’t go away. She’s like herpes." The show's producers immediately pulled Paulina off the air and Leventhal said: “Okay, that’s news that we are breaking here. Not appropriate, and we talk about the border then?” These standards of conduct seem unevenly applied since FoxNews headliner Tucker Carlson has called Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti “the creepy porn lawyer” and Eric Trump went on Sean Hannity’s show and said Democrats are “not even people to me”.
Paulina is a critic of Hillary Clinton.
Senator Harris has not commented on the incident.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.