Ever since President Joe Biden named Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor after withdrawing from the presidential race, former President Donald Trump has been relentless in launching verbal attacks at her, calling her ‘Comrade Kamala’, insulting her Indian lineage, and even mispronouncing her name as ‘Ka-MA-la’ or ‘KUH-ma-la.’ In light of the same, Star Wars actor, Mark Hamill, called out the Republican leader over his ‘ childish behavior.’ He argued that it demonstrates “disrespect and contempt.” According to Huff Post , Hamill gave Trump a new moniker in response.
” , La” Is that so difficult? Deliberately mispronouncing her name is both childish & his way of conveying disrespect & contempt. When they go low, we should respond in kind. From now on, don’t call him “Don”. Call him “Done”. pic.twitter.com/U6izi1sxfE
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) September 2, 2024
“When they go low, we should respond in kind,” he suggested on X. “From now on, don’t call him ‘Don’. Call him ‘Done.’” He added, “‘La’ Is that so difficult? Deliberately mispronouncing her name is both childish and his way of conveying disrespect and contempt.” Netizens chimed in agreement with the Return of the Jedi actor’s remarks, labeling Trump as a ‘bully’.
You’re completely right. There’s only one way to deal w a bully. And it’s certainly not tby being the *better* person….. it’s by giving them ALL of their same ‘medicine’ right back. “Done” is done.
— Claire S🖤🩷🖤 (@SaintLaurant) September 2, 2024
“I like DonOld. But yes, purposely saying her name wrong lets them feel like they are in control of her,” a person penned . “You’re completely right. There’s only one way to deal with a bully. And it’s certainly not by being the *better* person…it’s by giving them all of their same ‘medicine’ right back. ‘Done’ is done,” an X user quipped . “Done-old Trump. Just like it sounds,” another mocked .
Trump “couldn’t care less” about correctly pronouncing “Kamala”. He has a history of purposely mispronouncing names of non-white people. But what if the shoe were on the other foot, and the emphasis on his other syllable: Don-OLD? Could he care less then? #RollTheTape pic.twitter.com/2IxjaBSbFn
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) July 30, 2024
According to The New York Times , Trump once tried to justify his pronunciation after backlash. “Some people think I mispronounce it on purpose…but actually, I’ve heard it said about seven different ways,” he said. “They were explaining to me, ‘You can’t say “ka-MALA” — you can say “COMMA-la,”‘ Trump remarked, adding, “‘Don’t worry about it — I couldn’t care less if I mispronounce it. I couldn’t care less,'” at a rally.
Trump: Nobody knows who Harris is. What’s the VP’s name? They have no idea what the name is. Now, the name Kamala is. It’s a little complex because it’s about 19 different ways of pronouncing it. But Kamala is, at least it’s a name you sort of remember. pic.twitter.com/YiEOjrHjZz
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 29, 2024
In 2017, Harris sat down for an interview with CNN’s David Axelrod for The Axe Files podcast, where she educated the audience on how to pronounce her name right. “There are many ways. If you were asking my grandmother, she’d say, ‘KUH-muh-lah.’ I usually help people pronounce it by saying, ‘Well, just think of a comma and add a ‘la’ at the end.'” Meanwhile, according to University of Michigan psychology professor, Myles Durkee, Trump’s mispronunciation of her name is an attempt to ‘other’ her.
“When you intentionally mispronounce someone’s name who’s less traditional in the American context, it’s almost a dog whistle to othering that person, trying to suggest they’re less American, that they’re less worthy of you saying their name correctly in the first place,” Durkee argued. At a recent political event, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff also brought up the same and stated to the audience that he had a remedy if Trump continued to struggle with pronouncing her name. “Here’s the good news: After November, you can call her ‘Madam President,'” Emhoff quipped.
This article originally appeared 2 months ago.