The digital cover, also shot by Mitchell, began circulating online the next day. In contrast to the print cover, this one showed the Vice President-elect in a more presidential light, with her wearing a light blue Michael Kors suit, an American flag pinned to her lapel. According to Vogue, both looks were self-styled. But while the outfit featured on the print cover was selected by Harris, the photo itself was not — or at least it wasn’t the one her team selected as their choice for the cover. Rather, as reported by the Associated Press, it was the digital cover shot that was supposed to be the February 2021 cover — full stop. If her team had gotten its wish, as Refinery29 writer Kathleen Newman-Bremang stated in her initial coverage of the leak, “the discourse would probably have been very different.”
