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Biden mispronounces VP’s name days after botching MLK III’s wife’s name in birthday song

January 18, 2023 | | Print Article

President Joe Biden stumbled again during a White House press event, mispronouncing Vice President Kamala Harris’ name on Tuesday after serving more than two years with her in office, but at least he didn’t refer to her as “president” this time.

Over six years ago, Harris made an ad using children to show how her name was correctly pronounced, so the issue is apparently a touchy subject with the vice president.

“As Kamala said, we’re all closely monitoring the storms, the floods, the landslides all across California,” Biden intoned at a White House celebration for the NBA champion Golden State Warriors and then botched his second-in-command’s name, pronouncing it “Cam-a-la” rather than the proper “Comma-la.”

Biden is now 80 years old and is the oldest president to ever serve. His mental acuity has been the subject of concern and ridicule since he has taken office. Democrats claim he’s just gaffe-prone.

Harris claims that her name was inspired by her mother’s South Indian heritage and she went out of her way to educate the public on how to say “Kamala” before and during the 2020 election campaign, according to the New York Post.

In 2016, the Harris Senate campaign ran an ad featuring little kids condescendingly informing Californians on how to pronounce her name, “It’s not Cam-el-uh. It’s not Kuh-mahl-uh. It’s not Karmel-uh.”

“[M]y name is pronounced ‘Comma-la,’ like the punctuation mark. It means ‘lotus flower,’ which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture,” Harris wrote in a 2019 memoir as reported by CNN.

The mispronunciation by Biden was shortlived and he reverted to the correct way of saying Harris’ name on Tuesday as he asked her to walk him out of the room. He refused to answer questions about the special counsel investigation into his mishandling of classified documents on his way out.

Of note is the egregious fact that the president has referred to Harris as “president” no less than six times during his presidency, according to the New York Post. The last time was on January 5.

“President Harris led this effort — led this effort to make things better in the countries from which they are leaving,” Biden proclaimed.

(Video Credit: The White House)

The five other times that Biden has called Harris “president” are noteworthy:

  • In October, Biden called Harris a “great president” while wishing her a happy birthday.-
  • Last January, Biden referred to her as “President Harris” during a speech in Georgia.-
  • In December 2021, Biden told students at a historically black college in South Carolina that “of course, President Harris is a proud Howard alum.”-
  • Less than two months after taking office, Biden in March 2021 referred to “President Harris” while celebrating the 100 million COVID vaccine doses being administered.-
  • In December 2020, after winning the presidency, Biden referred to Harris as “President-elect Harris” while discussing how she publicly received a COVID jab.

Harris’s name isn’t the only one that Biden has flubbed.

In a birthday-related gaffe on Monday during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast, the president forgot the name of Martin Luther King III’s wife Arndrea Waters King, whose birthday fell on MLK Day this year. The president said he wanted to sing her Happy Birthday and proceeded to botch it.

When it came time to pronounce her name, Biden mumbled into the microphone and appeared to begin to say the name “Valerie.” He was laughed at for it but everyone has previously noticed the pattern, even those in the president’s own camp.

(Video Credit: Forbes Breaking News)

The gaffe by Biden was mocked on social media:

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