Kamala Harris’ Reported Secret Service Code Name Is So on Point

Kamala Harris’ Reported Secret Service Code Name Is So on Point

The call sign is a nod to her trailblazing status on the ballot.

As the official Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate, Kamala Harris is under Secret Service protection. This means that Harris now has a staff of special agents dedicated to protecting her from any potential threats posed against her. It also means—the thing we're most excited about at the moment—that she now has a personally chosen code name.

According to CNN reporter Noah Gray, Harris has chosen "Pioneer" as her Secret Service codename—and it makes perfect sense.

Harris is currently making history as the first woman of color on a major party ticket, and, if Joe Biden wins the election, she will become the first Black person, the first Indian American, and the first woman Vice President in U.S. history. So, Harris' trailblazing status makes "Pioneer" a fitting choice for a code name.

Biden's code name, "otherwise known as a 'call sign'" Gray reported via Twitter, is "Celtic"—which is likely a nod to his Irish roots.

As Oprah Mag reports, the family members of presidential and VP candidates traditionally all have Secret Service code names of their own that begin with the same letter. For example, The Kennedys all had call signs that begin with "L." (President Kennedy was 'Lancer,' Jackie was 'Lace,' Caroline was 'Lyric,' and JFK Jr. was 'Lark.'") The Obamas reportedly used the letter "R" (Barack was "Renegade," Michelle was "Renaissance," Sasha was "Rosebud," and Malia was "Radiance"), while Donald Trump's family codenames begin with "M" (Donald is "Mogul," Melania is "Muse," and Ivanka is "Marvel").

Following this tradition, Harris' husband Douglas Emhoff will likely have a code name beginning with the letter "P," but his moniker hasn't yet been reported.

With all these names quickly becoming public knowledge, it hard to see how they're secret code names at all. As CBS News reports, the code names used to be secret, used to protect the movements of the candidates, however, "now that the Secret Service has more secure communications, we can talk about the code names more freely."

So, we can call Harris "Pioneer" (because, that she is), and trust that she's still under top-level protection.