Actor Kerry Washington brought Vice President Kamala Harris’ two great-nieces on stage Thursday at the Democratic National Convention to school everyone on how to pronounce their great-aunt’s first name ― something Republicans regularly botch despite her long career in the public eye.
“It’s come to my attention that there are some folks who struggle ― or pretend to struggle ― with the proper pronunciation of our future president’s name,” Washington said. “So hear me out: Confusion is understandable; disrespect is not. So tonight we are going to help everyone get it right.”
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Washington then called Amara and Leela Ajagu, the daughters of Harris’ niece Meena Harris, to the stage to teach the crowd how to say “Kamala,” a Sanskrit word meaning lotus.
“First you say ‘comma,’ like a comma in a sentence,” Amara explained.
“Then you say ‘la,’ like, “la, la, la, la,” Leela sang.
They then had the DNC crowd repeat after them.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
The willful ignorance about how to pronounce Harris’ name was on full display at the Republican National Convention last month, where about half the speakers who mentioned her mispronounced it as either “Kuh-MA-luh,” “Camel-uh” or “Camilla.” This was despite Harris being the vice president for more than three years and a U.S. senator for several years before that.
Trump is one of the most consistent offenders, and in a highly characteristic comment last month, he claimed he was actually pronouncing it correctly.
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“Some people think I mispronounce it on purpose, but actually I’ve heard it said about seven different ways,” he said at a Florida event. “There are a lot of ways.”
Washington also brought her “Scandal” co-star Tony Goldwyn on stage to help her film a video with the crowd.
“You are the messengers. You are the fixers. Dare I say it, you are the Olivia Popes,” Washington said, referencing her “Scandal” character, a political public relations expert.
