‘She gets very angry’: Trump launches fresh attack on Kamala Harris, first Black and Asian woman nominated for national office
President Donald Trump on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on Kamala Harris — the first Black and Asian women to be nominated for national office by a major party — suggesting she laughs with "anger" when political opponents pronounce her name incorrectly.
"Kamala. Kamala. You know, if you don't pronounce her name exactly right, she gets very angry at you," Mr Trump, 74, said at a campaign rally in Arizona, a key battleground state that could be key in deciding who is in the White House next year.
"And then she starts — you know what she does when she gets angry? She starts laughing. Like she did on 60 Minutes. Uncontrollable laughs. That means she's angry," the president told hundreds of his supporters who had crammed into Phoenix Goodyear Airport.
Mr Trump had been referring to a recent interview senator Harris, Democrat vice presidential candidate and Joe Biden's running mate, gave to the CBS News's '60 Minutes' in which she was quizzed on her record in office ahead of November's election.
Senator Harris, 56, did laugh on occasion during the interview, which the president mockingly suggested showed "there's something wrong" with her. He also suggested the laughs may have been a tactic by senator Harris to deflect tough questioning, but footage shows the attorney continuing to deliver her answers.
Senator Harris has been the subject of repeated attacks by the president and wider GOP ever since Mr Biden selected her as his running mate.
The president has described her as a "monster" and a "communist" and attempted to frame the election as a choice between himself and senator Harris, trotting out unsubstantiated claims that Democrats plan to install her as president early on the first term should Mr Biden win.
Those attacks have often come with racist and sexist undertones, with the president repeatedly telling Make America Great Again rallies that senator Harris "will not be your first woman president ... you cannot let that happen".
GOP figures have also mocked the first name of senator Harris, who was raised by a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She pronounces her first name as 'Comma-la', rather than 'Ka-mal-a'.
The pronunciation of senator Harris's first name perhaps first gained national attention when Fox News host Tucker Carlson repeatedly refused to pronounce it correctly, despite being corrected by his guest, Richard Goodstein.
Mr Carlson appeared to suggest during the exchange that the pronunciation of senator Harris's name doesn't matter. “So what?†he said when it was pointed out to him that he said Kamala incorrectly.
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This is the correct way to pronounce Kamala Harris’ name
