Fox News host Tucker Carlson had a little on-air meltdown as he snipped at a guest who had corrected his pronunciation of Kamala Harris’s name..
Democratic strategist and former adviser to Hillary Clinton, Richard Goodstein, was a guest on Carlson’s show and tried to advise Carlson and his colleagues on how to pronounce the Harris’s name, given we are going to be hearing it thousands of times in the coming months.
Goodstein said, “Her name is pronounced ‘Comma’ — like the punctuation mark — ‘la.’ Seriously, I’ve heard every sort of bastardization of that. That’s how it is. ‘Comma-la.’”
Carlson furrowed his brow and simply said, “OK… So what?”
Goldstien thoughtfully replied, “I think out of respect … Pronouncing her name right is actually kind of a bare minimum.”
“So I’m disrespecting her by mispronouncing her name unintentionally? So it begins,” Carlson said with a grin. He then quipped,“You’re not allowed to criticize ‘Ka-MAL-a’ or ‘KAM-a-la’ or whatever it is—”
But Goodstein, who wasn’t going to let Carlson off the hook, interrupted: “No, no, no. It’s not ‘whatever.’”
Carlson then said, “Look, I unintentionally mispronounced her name,” and then he claimed that Harris is not “immune from criticism.”
He said, “On this show, nobody in power is immune from criticism. Our political leaders must be held to account — that’s our job.”
A clip of the heated exchange went viral and Carlson’s critics are out en masse.
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
Screenwriter and television producer Warren Leight tweeted: “Refusing to pronounce Kamala’s name correctly when you’re a broadcast « journalist » is racist. But we already knew that about Tucker.”
Podcast host Touré pointed out that as a professional in broadcasting, Carlson should be able to say people’s names correctly.
Tucker, You’re not “criticizing” Kamala or “holding her to account” when you refuse to learn how to pronounce her name. Tucker’s not the only significant media figure who “struggles” with pronouncing her name. It’s disrespectful. And it’s purposeful. https://t.co/vmd8hQ0GWa
— Touré (@Toure) August 12, 2020
Former spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, Charlotte Clymer, said that the VP’s name had been in the news for years now.
“Tucker Carlson’s brain saw a woman of color and had to make the name difficult. That’s what happened,” she wrote.
Like, okay, putting aside that everyone and their cousin has heard the name “Kamala” a million times over the several years, it’s such an easy to pronounce phonetically. Tucker Carlson’s brain saw a woman of color and had to make the name difficult. That’s what happened.
— Charlotte Clymer
(@cmclymer) August 12, 2020
Former GOP presidential candidate and former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) said that Carlson is “really, really angry” that Biden chose Harris as the vice presidential pick and Carlson is “really, really scared to death of her.”
Because I wanted a good laugh, I just watched the first few minutes of @TuckerCarlson. All I can tell you is that Tucker is really, really angry Kamala Harris is the VP pick, and he’s really, really scared to death of her.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 12, 2020
If Biden is elected, Harris would be the first person of color to serve as Vice President. Harris is currently the only Black female senator.
In 2016, during her Senate campaign run, Harris released this video which features children teaching people how to correctly say her name.
People pronounce my name many different ways. Let #KidsForKamala show you how it’s done. pic.twitter.com/7QoQGN0B4k
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 24, 2016
The post Tucker Carlson explosion: he lost it after a guest corrected his pronunciation of Kamala Harris’s name first appeared on TPL News.
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