What Kamala Harris’s wired headphones tell us about US politics today

Democrats and media figures have spent this week discussing – and arguing about – a strangely minor story, writes Dave Maclean

The vice president is no fan of Bluetooth (Twitter/Kamala Harris)

My favourite confected media scandal was Mustardgate. Shortly after being sworn into office, Barack Obama ordered a burger in public, and asked for Dijon mustard. A smart choice, in my view – a tangy, sharp punch to counteract a fatty meat patty that’d also play well with the mysterious substance that is American cheese.

But Sean Hannity, and several others on the right, turned it into a mini-scandal. It was, they hinted, rather effete for the commander-in-chief to deviate from plain old yellow mustard from the squeezy container. One chyron branded him President Poupon, after the Grey Poupon brand of mustard.

This is a long way of saying that extreme scrutiny of the president’s actions is not new.