Tipsheet

Joe Biden Sure Made Some Awkward Remarks About Kamala Harris

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 14, 2024 8:00 AM

President Joe Biden making awkward comments about Vice President Kamala Harris, such as referring to her as the actual president, is nothing new. It's a slip he's been having about her since he took office. Over three years later, though, Biden is still having uncomfortable moments. On Monday, Biden and Harris appeared with each other where the president gave remarks on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. 

Early on in the remarks, a rather tired-sounding president mentioned "my name's Joe Biden. I work for Kamala Harris," to a smattering of laughter and applause. "I asked her to be my vice president because I knew I needed somebody smarter than me." While he may have gotten her job title correct for this speech, Biden wasn't exactly doing himself any favors as he very much sounded and looked his age.

While he meant it for laughs, Biden bringing up why he chose Harris as his running mate might be something of an uneasy topic for him to even just mention, let alone joke about. He was always going to pick a black woman, as Democrats are obsessed with identity politics. Harris herself ran for president too, though she dropped out early, in December 2019. She still managed to make it to the debate stage a few times against Biden, and that included some ugly moments between them. It was also later revealed in a book, "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future," by Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, that First Lady Jill Biden was skeptical of Harris as a choice. 

Biden also faced challenges with the teleprompter during Monday's remarks, as he's prone to doing. "There is no singular Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander identity and diversity in those cultures, the breadth of achievement, and shape the strength and fabric of this country," he said.  

As the president gave his remarks, he looked rather confused, especially as he rambled on when reading out such a sentence.

Recommended

Bill Maher Offers a Simple Explanation for Why He Trashes the Left More Frequently Matt Vespa
This Small Ohio Town Is Being Overrun By illegal Haitian Immigrants Sarah Arnold

Biden's references to Harris only got more cringeworthy from there, though. When bringing up his message about the Democratic Party's obsession with abortion and trying to "restore" Roe v. Wade, he very obviously mispronounced Kamala Harris' name, also referring to her only as her first name.

It's also worth highlighting how Biden, Harris, and many of the reelection campaign surrogates bring up abortion as often as they possibly can, even when the speech in question might not call for it. Further, they almost always do so by misleading and lying about the issue. Biden and the Democrats don't merely want to "restore" Roe, they're looking for Congress to pass a bill that would expand Roe. That bill, the Women's Health Protection Act, would make abortion available in all 50 states up until birth for any reason and with no legal limit. 

RNC Research also shared a screenshot of an article from August 21, 2020, right after that year's Democratic National Convention, and not long after Biden picked Harris as his running mate. The headline from the Associated Press claimed that "Democrats see racism in GOP mispronunciations of 'Kamala.'" It was shared by plenty of other big outlets, including The Washington Post. 

Harris herself made news on Monday, as earlier in the day she spoke at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) Legislative Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. 

"Sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open. Sometimes they won’t. And then you need to kick that f**king door down," she said, using the full expletive to laughter and applause. "Excuse my language."

Comedian Jimmy Yang, who was moderating, encouraged her further, offering "we got to make t-shirts with that saying, 'kick the f**king door down,' to even more laughter. "I--I mean, I literally just got emotional listening to that. Like, I--I think all of us in this room have that experience," he continued. 

"Of course. Of course," Harris offered as her own encouraging reply.