╌>

Quebec mansion images lack context on Kamala Harris teen home

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  hallux  •  2 weeks ago  •  2 comments

By:   Gwen ROLEY, AFP Canada

Quebec mansion images lack context on Kamala Harris teen home

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T


Kamala Harris spent part of her youth on the Island of Montreal but a collection of photos of stately houses circulating on social media misrepresent the US presidential candidate's experience in the Westmount area. The large residences pictured are not on the street where she lived, which includes more modest residences, and a childhood friend told media the family lived in an apartment on the upper floor of a duplex in the wealthy community.



"KAMALA HARRIS - Grew up in Westmount Quebec, as she reports a Middle Class, Working Class Neighborhood," a September 27, 2024 Facebook   post   says.

The publication includes a collage of photos of Harris and opulent mansions, accompanied by stats about home prices in the Quebec area where the Democratic presidential candidate went to high school.

Numerous other posts shared the same text and images on  Facebook ,   X   and   Instagram , implying that Harris misrepresented her economic background, including posts in   Spanish . The vice president often   evokes   a middle-class family experience after both her parents came to the United States and started careers as immigrants (archived   here ).

AFP previously  reported   Harris's mother Shyamala Gopalan was a medical researcher who took a job at Montreal's  Jewish General Hospital   and moved with her two daughters to Quebec in 1976 after her divorce of Harris's father Donald Harris.

Harris graduated from  Westmount High School,   part of the public English-language school system,   in 1981 before returning to the United States to attend university.

Westmount, Quebec   -- a municipality on the Island of Montreal -- is   frequently   listed as one of the   richest areas   in Canada. According to Canadian real estate company Royal LePage, the   average home price   (archived   here ) is about Can$2 million ($1.4 million), with some properties selling for more than Can$11 million. This is well above the  national average price   of Can$669,630 reported by the   Canadian Real Estate Association   in September 2024 (archived   here ).

However, Wanda Kagan, a former classmate and longtime friend of Harris, told the   New York Times   she briefly lived with the future vice president's family in an apartment in a middle-class neighborhood. She   described   a cohesive home life in a residence on Grosvenor Avenue, telling the   Washington Post   the Harris family lived on the second floor of a duplex. 

Kagan previously   spoke   to AFP, but could not be reached for comment on this story. The Harris campaign also declined to comment, pointing to previous reporting.

Photos not of Harris family residence


Using   reverse image search , AFP found all the   houses   included as images in the posts are   located   in   Westmount   (archived   here ,   here   and   here ) One of the homes is close to the corner of Grosvenor Avenue but none of the buildings were located on the street where the Harris family reportedly   lived.

Christina Miller , a real estate agent based in Westmount (archived   here ), acknowledged the   affluence   in the municipality in an October 17 interview with AFP, but said some people live in the area on average salaries.

"It's very easy for somebody to go and take a picture of a very big house in Westmount," she said. "But, I can also tell you as a realtor, I go into a lot of Westmount houses that have not had updates in many, many decades."



Tags

jrDiscussion - desc
[]
 
Hallux
Professor Principal
1  seeder  Hallux    2 weeks ago

Even at 1976 prices (10% of what they are today) there is no way in heaven or Hell that Kamilla's mother could afford to rent any of these pictured homes. 

 
 
 
Kavika
Professor Principal
2  Kavika     2 weeks ago

Perhaps they should show photos of Trumps homes when he was growing up, after all he is everyman according to the MAGAs.

 
 

Who is online

Sparty On
Bob Nelson
Igknorantzruls


416 visitors