It is a simple name to say Kamala. Like comma-la. But what would be Trump's reason for constantly mispronouncing her name? Dont come at me with that is how SHE used to pronounce it, that isnt true. What you got now? He mispronounced her name 7 out of 12 times, several times with inflection last night. Why?
Trump and other prominent Republicans are the most public offenders, with Harris’s supporters accusing them of intentionally bungling the pronunciation or using it as a racist dog whistle about the first Black woman and the first Asian American woman named to a major party’s ticket.
At the Republican National Convention last week, nearly half of the speakers who uttered Harris’s first name blew it. Bob Unanue, the chief executive of Goya Foods, mockingly uttered “Qué mala,” which means “so bad” in Spanish. Among the speakers who offered a correct pronunciation: former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and Usha Vance, the wife of Trump running mate JD Vance — both of whom are Indian American.
Harris’s campaign has placed a special emphasis on her first name — which in Sanskrit means “lotus,” an important symbol in Indian culture — by relabeling “BidenHarrisHQ” social media channels to “KamalaHQ” and handing out white-and-navy-blue signs that declare “KAMALA” in a bold sans serif type on one side and “USA” on the other.
“He’s going to continue his strategy of name calling and dehumanization to attempt to rally his base, and this is just another way he’s actually message testing,” she said. “Mispronouncing a name is a common tactic used by people who try to do what we call ‘other,’ to other someone.”
Trump and other prominent Republicans are the most public offenders, with Harris’s supporters accusing them of intentionally bungling the pronunciation or using it as a racist dog whistle about the first Black woman and the first Asian American woman named to a major party’s ticket.
At the Republican National Convention last week, nearly half of the speakers who uttered Harris’s first name blew it. Bob Unanue, the chief executive of Goya Foods, mockingly uttered “Qué mala,” which means “so bad” in Spanish. Among the speakers who offered a correct pronunciation: former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and Usha Vance, the wife of Trump running mate JD Vance — both of whom are Indian American.
Harris’s campaign has placed a special emphasis on her first name — which in Sanskrit means “lotus,” an important symbol in Indian culture — by relabeling “BidenHarrisHQ” social media channels to “KamalaHQ” and handing out white-and-navy-blue signs that declare “KAMALA” in a bold sans serif type on one side and “USA” on the other.
“He’s going to continue his strategy of name calling and dehumanization to attempt to rally his base, and this is just another way he’s actually message testing,” she said. “Mispronouncing a name is a common tactic used by people who try to do what we call ‘other,’ to other someone.”
