President Biden wanted to end his performance with the NBA champion Golden State Warriors by taking a knee with Vice President Kamala Harris.
But she refused, giggling, “I’m not doing that” — leaving the 80-year-old alone in front of the stage at the end of the photo op.
The president’s gesture was met with laughter from the team and shocked noises from the crowd, including from his No. 2, who refused to enter the kneeling position that became popular with athletes during the Black Lives Matter protests.
The whole ordeal was disorienting as panicked players reached out to help the president up when it appeared he almost fell – but Biden only pretended to fight back and ended up with a grin in what he thought was an athletic one Pose.
At the start of Tuesday’s event, Biden also fumbled, appearing to forget Harris’ first name and calling her “CAM-a-la” instead of the correct pronunciation of “COMMA-la.”
Vice President Kamala Harris (right) refused to take a knee with President Joe Biden (left) during a photo op with the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors at the White House on Tuesday
As the players emerged from his kneeling position, thinking the president was going to fall, they reached out to help — but it seemed like Biden was joking and ended up in a defensive crouch
Biden and Harris, 58, couldn’t seem to find a good spot during a photo op with the team as they wrapped up a White House celebration for the reigning champions.
“Tell you what,” Biden said before kneeling on a small platform in front of the team.
Harris, the first woman and minority to serve as vice president, enlisted the players’ help to get off the platform and pose in front of Steph Curry – but some viewers thought she was seeking support to kneel with the president. which led to another round of laughter and scattered applause.
The VP gave two thumbs up and then switched to a one-handed No. 1 sign as Biden knelt beside her on the platform while onlookers and photographers snapped pictures.
Rising from his kneeling position at the end of the photo op, Biden awkwardly landed in a defensive crouch, earning another round of applause from the amused attendees.
Harris laughed as Biden knelt and said, “I’m not doing that,” before taking a seat from the podium to pose alongside Steph Curry
Biden kneels with thumbs up while Kamala stands with one foot on the platform as they pose with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors team
Professional athletes began kneeling at the start of their games during the national anthem in 2016 to protest racial inequality and police brutality against minorities.
What later became known as a protest linked to the Black Lives Matter movement was highly controversial in the sports community – as participants and spectators began “booing” their own teams when they took their knees.
The awkward interaction between Biden and his vice president came after he forgot how to pronounce Harris’ first name during his remarks celebrating the Golden State Warriors.
The President pronounced Kamala as “CAM-a-la” rather than the correct pronunciation of “COMMA-la”.
Biden mispronounced his vice president’s name during remarks at Tuesday’s celebration, calling her “CAM-a’la” rather than the correct pronunciation of “COMMA-la.”
While the vice president’s first name is commonly mispronounced, this is not usually how the president did. The most common misspelling of Harris’ first name involves a slip in inflection, resulting in “COME-a-la”.
“As Kamala said, we’re all closely monitoring the storms, the floods, and the landslides across California,” Biden said of mispronouncing his 58-year-old deputy’s name.
The name Kamala was inspired by her mother’s South Indian heritage – and Harris set the record for how to pronounce her name several times.
In a video from her 2016 Senate campaign, Harris posted a video of children saying their names incorrectly and then correctly.
“It’s not CAM-EL-UH. It’s not COW-MAHL-UH. It’s not CARMEL-UH.’
In a 2019 memoir, Harris wrote: “[M]Her name is pronounced “comma-la” like the punctuation mark. It means “lotus flower” which is a symbol of meaning in Indian culture.”
Biden’s blip came Tuesday as the president and vice president hosted the NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a White House celebration.
As the oldest US president of all time, Republicans have often questioned whether Biden has the mental acuity or physical fitness to continue serving as commander in chief.
The reigning NBA champions basketball team, the Golden State Warriors, presented the President’s and Vice President’s jerseys. Biden was No. 46, as he is the 46th president, and Harris was No. 1, likely because he is the first woman and minority vice president in U.S. history
Biden defenders claim he’s just prone to gaffes and have pointed to his chronic stutter, which he says was worse as a child.
Biden hasn’t backed down from suggestions that he is preparing to launch a re-election campaign for the 2024 race — and that he would run again with his current vice president.
But Tuesday’s blunder isn’t the first time Biden has stumbled when talking about his vice president — and he’s twice now referred to her as president.
Earlier this month, during a news conference previewing his trip to the southern border, Biden said, “President Harris has spearheaded these efforts to improve this in the countries they are departing from.”
While everyone makes mistakes, this was at least the second time Biden made that slip.
“Happy birthday to a great president,” Biden said in October 2022 while wishing his No. 2 a happy birthday during a Diwali celebration.
Another birthday-related slip-up happened Monday during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast when the President forgot the name of the birthday boy.
The birthday of Martin Luther King III’s wife, Arndrea Waters King, fell on MLK Day this year, so during the breakfast remarks, Biden said he wanted to sing her the Happy Birthday song.
When it came time to include her name in the song’s verse, Biden instead mumbled over the mic and appeared to say the name “Valerie.” The whole room laughed.