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Joan Baez Awkwardly Mispronounces Kamala Harris' Name While Promoting VP's Campaign in Odd Interview
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Joan Baez is an 83-year-old folk singer.
Sept. 19 2024, Published 1:39 p.m. ET
Folk singer and activist Joan Baez repeatedly flubbed Vice President Kamala Harris' name during her Thursday, September 19, appearance on Morning Joe.
Despite being an outspoken Harris-Walz supporter and fundraising for their campaign by selling 500 prints of her beautiful painting of the VP, Baez, 83, just could not seem to get her name right.
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Joan Baez appeared on the Thursday, September 19, episode of 'Morning Joe.'
The mistakes occurred as Baez speculated on the effect having a woman as POTUS could potentially have on the country.
"People have always talked about the possibility of a woman feeling more of that…they’re able to sense that sorrow and sadness and attempt to do something about it in a way that really just, you know, dismisses the violence and does it another way," she said.
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Joan Baez mispronounced Kamala Harris' name twice in a row.
Baez then said, "And in Pamela’s, Kamela’s case," she corrected herself, but pronounced the name "CAMEL-UH" as she did, "It would be talking with talking with diplomats and bringing in the real feelings that are allowed when you’re doing diplomacy for a country that’s struggling, you know, and with violence to hold itself down or to to demolish somebody else."
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Joan Baez is currently fundraising for the Harris-Walz campaign.
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As OK! previously reported, Harris has been vocal about the correct pronunciation of her name after repeated gaffes. In a video from 2016, Harris explained her name was not said "CAM-EL-UH," "KUH-MAHL-UH" or "KARMEL-UH."
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Kamala Harris was endorsed by President Joe Biden in July.
In her memoir, she also wrote: "[M]y name is pronounced ‘comma-la,’ like the punctuation mark. It means ‘lotus flower,’ which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture."
Donald Trump has also flubbed her name — although some believe he is doing it purposely after making the mistake several times in a row at a July rally.
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Jean Sinzdak, who serves as the associate director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, suggested: "It's one thing to mispronounce someone's name on the first try, right? But to do it repeatedly and deliberately, it feels purposeful. It's certainly done to make a point. It is othering, a way of saying you don't belong here."