From The Washington Post to Our Kamala Harris Interview: How TSR Politics Topped The Political Coverage Leaderboard with 803 Million Engagements

The Shade Room ranked No. 2 in 2024 and No. 3 through November 10, 2025, on CAP Action’s cross-platform political leaderboard excluding X, even as we shifted more of our coverage back to entertainment in 2025.

When Janay Kingsberry interviewed me for The Washington Post’s July 7, 2024 feature on The Shade Room, we’d spent months sharpening our approach to political coverage. As TSR’s Head of Content, I wanted the Roomies to have a voice in the conversation and to get clear, unbiased coverage of the issues they cared about. We’d already been covering politics at TSR. In November 2023, we got more deliberate about how we covered it heading into a presidential election year.

Read Janay Kingsberry’s feature in The Washington Post · See my original LinkedIn announcement

The Kamala Harris interview

A few months after the feature ran, I landed a sit-down with then–Vice President Kamala Harris for The Shade Room. Justin Carter conducted the interview, which we released in October 2024. They discussed Harris’s Opportunity Agenda for Black Men, including what her economic proposals could mean for people trying to start or grow a business.

Watch the full Kamala Harris interview on YouTube · See our team photo after the interview

If the video doesn’t play, watch it on The Shade Room’s site.

That interview was one piece of the team’s work that year. Justin reported from Air Force Two and appeared on CNN as an election commentator. Our senior news producer, Saran Tarawaley, covered the campaign trail for TSR. Justin’s Air Force Two post · Justin’s CNN appearance · Saran’s campaign trail recap

How The Shade Room ranked

The Shade Room drew 803 million engagements in 2024, ranking No. 2 by total engagements on CAP Action’s cross-platform political leaderboard excluding X (listed as Twitter). Daily Mail led that leaderboard, and TSR ranked ahead of both major presidential candidates. In the November 10, 2025 year-to-date snapshot, we ranked No. 3 on the same leaderboard, even after we scaled back political coverage to give entertainment more room again.

CAP Action also publishes a view that includes X. In that view, TSR ranked No. 3 in 2024 and No. 4 in the November 2025 snapshot. The dashboard counts engagement across tracked accounts, including posts on topics beyond politics.

One of my favorite memories from that year was a personal one. My daughter Nevaeh joined me at the White House for Christmas at President Biden’s invitation, and we took a photo with him and Dr. Jill Biden. I’m glad I got to share that moment with her. See my White House Christmas post