Kamala Harris left listeners baffled as her notoriously changeable accent went through another transition in front of an audience of black politicians in DC on Saturday night.
The Democrat nominee seemed keen to ingratiate herself as she addressed the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation at the Phoenix Awards Dinner.
‘Hello to all of my Divine Nine brothers and sisters!’ she hollered to the diners. ‘And to all my HBCU brothers and sisters.’
‘Kamala Harris is whatever you want her to be, depending on which audience she is talking to,’ wrote one observer on X.
‘But I give her credit for being able to change her accent for so many audiences!’
The Vice President seemed keen to ingratiate herself with her audience at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation dinner on Saturday night
But many on social media were unimpressed at her attempt to appear relatable
The VP who spent her childhood in San Francisco and Montreal has long been accused of adapting her accent to whatever audience she is addressing.
She raised eyebrows on the campaign trail in 2020 when she adopted a languorous southern drawl to excite one Florida rally with the words ‘We will tell them we were hangin’ out in a parking lot this particular Saturday afternoon with Kamala.’
She unleashed her Dixie accent again in July at a campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia, when she told her audience ‘You all helped us win in 2020 and we gonna do it again in 2024’.
In 2021 she was even accused of slipping into a cod French accent as she spoke to scientists at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
And her latest switch came just days after teachers in Michigan were left scratching their heads at her attempt at a Detroit demotic.
‘You may not be a union member but you better thank a union member for the five-day work week,’ Harris told them.
‘I’m from California. We all talk like this,’ an X user sarcastically wrote alongside a phonetic spelling of how Harris spoke in her remarks: ‘I’m gonna make sure to thanka union memba today.’
The VP has both Jamaica and Indian heritage and her vocal dexterity has been leapt on by Donald Trump after her GOP rival accused her of using her blackness to her advantage when it suits her.
‘I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,’ he said during the annual convention. ‘So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?’
The VP’s latest accent sparked similar derision from right-wing commentators after it she tried it out with her mainly black audience on Saturday.
‘Kamala Harris is speaking in front of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation so of course she’s suddenly developed a mysterious accent,’ tweeted conservative pundit Benny Johnson.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called a suggestion that Kamala Harris uses different accents ‘insane’
‘New? Or is it her old fake black accent?’ demanded Paul A. Szypula. ‘Either way, it’s incredibly insulting to black people. Shame on Kamala.’
‘Kamala Harris revealed a new accent at the Black Caucus Dinner,’ added Steve Guest.
‘Despite a childhood in Berkley, California and Montreal, Canada, Kamala uses what she thinks is a Detroit accent, a southern accent, a French accent, and more…’ he added.
The White House refused to comment when challenged over Harris’s mercurial enunciation earlier this month.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
‘She was talking about unions in Detroit using one tone of voice,’ Peter Doocy of Fox News pointed out.
‘She used the same line in Pittsburgh, and it sounded like she at least had some kind of a southern drawl.’
‘Do you think Americans seriously think that this is an important question?’ Jean-Pierre demanded.
‘They care – you know what they care about? They care about the economy. They care about lowering costs. They care about healthcare. That’s what Americans care about.
‘I’m not even going to entertain some question about — hearing it sounds so ridiculous.
‘It’s insane,’ she added.
