A Thursday evening CNN panel devolved into a heated argument after Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) repeatedly mispronounced Vice President Harris’s name.
Mace mispronounced Harris’s first name a few times during the interview, with various other guests correcting her.
But things became more heated as the discussion went on.
After author and professor Michael Eric Dyson said former President Trump was playing reruns with his campaign statements. Mace quickly clapped back.
“Talk about reruns, Kamala’s — Kamala’s,” Mace began, saying the vice president’s name correctly the first time but mispronouncing it the second time.
Mace was interrupted by former Clinton White House aide Keith Boykin, who said, “You had it right! You almost got it!”
Mace pushed back, saying she would “say Kamala’s name any way that I want to.” She mispronounced Harris’s name again as she spoke.
Dyson then criticized Mace for “normalizing” a kind of “viciousness” and disrespecting Harris in the process.
“This congresswoman is a wonderful human being,” said Dyson. “But when you disrespect Kamala Harris by saying you will call her whatever you want, I know you don’t intend it to be that way, that’s the history and legacy of white disregard for the humanity of Black people.”
Mace responded to Dyson by asking if he was accusing her of being racist, adding that it was “offensive” and “disgusting” for Dyson to insinuate such a thing. Dyson denied implying Mace was racist.
Mace continued to mispronounce Harris’s name. But when Dyson said Mace’s mispronunciation and disrespect were “disgusting,” the argument became even more heated.
“You know what, you know what’s disgusting to women is her disrespect of women,” Mace responded. “She doesn’t know what a woman is.”
Dyson quickly interrupted Mace to say, “White women don’t have the ability to tell Black women who paid the price of blood to make this country what it is to tell them they’re not real women.”
Dyson didn’t let the conversation end there, instead challenging Mace to say Harris’s name correctly. She refused, instead mispronouncing Harris’s name again as the other panelists shouted “Kamala! Kamala!”
“It’s Kamala! You’re doing this on purpose, congresswoman!” Boykin shouted at one point.
Dyson added, “You’re a white woman disrespecting a Black woman.”
On Friday, Mace told The Hill that “CNN’s response to a simple mispronunciation of ‘Kamala’ shows they care more about pronouns and pronunciation than policy.”
“While Americans are dealing with soaring inflation, rising crime, and a border crisis, people still have no idea where Kamala Harris stands on a single policy,” said Mace.
This isn’t the first time mispronunciations of Harris’s first name have sparked debates.
A host of Republicans — from former President Trump to former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — have repeatedly mispronounced Harris’s name.
In her memoir, Harris said her name, a nod to her Indian heritage, is pronounced “Comma-la” and means lotus flower.
Even before Harris became the Democratic nominee, the Biden-Harris ticket consistently lambasted Republicans for mispronouncing Harris’s name. Members of the campaign labeled the deliberate mispronunciation as racist.