Tucker Carlson Repeatedly Mispronounces Kamala Harris’s Name On Fox News, Is Unrepentant When Corrected
Just minutes after Kamala Harris was announced as Joe Biden’s running mate, President Donald Trump took a few shots at her during a press conference, calling her “disrespectful…horrible…extraordinarily nasty.”
A few hours later, Fox News host Tucker Carlson was himself accused of being disrespectful when speaking about Harris, repeatedly mispronouncing her first name on his top-rated show.
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Carlson said “Ka-MAL-a,” stressing the second syllable. The California Senator’s name is actually pronounced “KAM-a-la,” with the stress on the first syllable.
Carlson’s guest, Democratic political consultant Richard Goodstein, sought to help the Fox News host.
Tucker Carlson loses it when a guest corrects his pronunciation of Kamala Harris's name pic.twitter.com/1fHIrPGuwN
— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) August 12, 2020
“This is something that will serve you and your fellow Fox News hosts,” said Goodstein, as Carlson looked on with knitted brow.
When Goodstein related the proper pronunciation, Carlson responded,”OK. So what?”
“I think out of respect for someone who’s going to be on the national ticket, pronouncing her name right is kind of a bare minimum,” Goodstein replied.
Carlson laughed saying, “So I’m disrespecting her by mispronouncing her intentionally? So it begins. You’re not allowed to criticize Ka-MAL-a Harris, or KAM-a-la.
“Look, I unintentionally mispronounced her name,” said Carlson, before returning to his argument that “political leaders must be held to account. That’s our job.”
The irony is of course that it is Carlson’s job, in part, to pronounce names written on a teleprompter correctly.
He is also presumably required to be able to pronounce the names of sitting U.S. Senators, candidates for president and their vice presidential picks. No political newcomer, Harris has been in all three categories at some time in the past 12 months.
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