“Cam-a-la”: Biden stumbles over pronouncing Vice President’s name (but at least he didn’t call her President!)
- President Joe Biden mispronounced his vice president’s name on Tuesday
- Referring to VP Kamala Harris as ‘CAM-a’la’ and not the correct ‘COMMA-la’
- Biden previously mispronounced Harris’ name and called her “President.”
Joe Biden, 80, forgot how to pronounce his own vice president’s name during a speech recognizing the Golden State Warriors for winning the NBA championship.
The President pronounced Vice President Kamala Harris’ first name as “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.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday mispronounced his vice president’s name, calling her “CAM-a’la” instead of the correct pronunciation of “COMMA-la.”
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.
Biden was speaking during a speech at a White House celebration of the NBA champions Golden State Warriors basketball team
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.