Bill Clinton invites online ire for mispronouncing Kamala Harris' name during DNC speech

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Former president Bill Clinton pronounced Vice President Kamala Harris' name wrong during his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday, August 21.

The 42nd president referred to the soon-to-be Democratic presidential nominee's first name, stressing the wrong syllable: "We need [Camel-a] Harris," according to Newsweek. In addition, in another video trending on X (formerly Twitter), he could be heard repeating the mistake.

Pronunciation of Harris' name has been a topic of debate since her entry into the 2024 race after President Joe Biden's exit. As per her 2019 memoir 'The Truths We Hold: An American Journey', the correct pronunciation of the vice president's first name is "Comma-la."

Bill Clinton mispronounces Kamala Harris' name as Dems criticize GOP for doing same

Bill Clinton mispronounced Kamala Harris' name as Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, were often accused of intentionally saying her name incorrectly.

During last month's Turning Point USA Believers Summit, the GOP presidential nominee claimed that there were many ways to say his rival's name but asserted it did not matter. "If I mispronounce it or not, I couldn't care less. Some people think I mispronounced it on purpose, but actually, I heard it said about seven different ways. There are a lot of ways," he said.

Furthermore, the real estate mogul indicated his refusal to use the proper pronunciation back in 2020, asserting even Harris couldn't pronounce it right.

The pronunciation controversy made headlines last week after GOP Rep Nancy Mace purposely mispronounced the vice president's name on CNN, leading to a verbal spat with Michael Eric Dyson, one of the panelists. "I will say Kamala's name any way that I want to," the South Carolina Republican said at the time.

Notably, Biden has also botched his VP's name multiple times as "Camel-a" during his White House term.

Harris' first name, Kamala, means lotus, which is a nod to her Indian heritage. She was born to an immigrant mother from India and a Jamaican father.

Clinton's gaffe was met with criticism from Republican commentators like Newsmax host Todd Starnes.

Starnes took to X, writing, "Will the DNC condemn and censure Bill Clinton for continuously mispronouncing Kamala's name? He called her "Camel-a." Democrats say mispronouncing her name is racist."

Conservative radio host Jason Rantz shared a clip of Clinton mispronouncing "Camel-a" on X, and captioned it, "Remember, mispronouncing Kamala Harris is a dog whistle that shows you're a virulent racist and there can be no other explanation!!!"

Internet slams Bill Clinton for mispronouncing Kamala Harris' name at the DNC

Netizens accused Bill Clinton of being a "hypocrite" as he said the wrong pronunciation of Kamala Harris' first name during the DNC speech despite the backlash against Republicans for the same mistake.

"This guy is well past his prime.... He's cooked," a user wrote.

"SMH… Hypocrites. ALL of them…," another said.

"No rules for thee but not for me is democrats policy," read one response. Meanwhile, another added, "All hypocrites."

"Could Bill Clinton not practice how to saw Kamala Harris’s name before his #DNCConvention speech? I’m feeling secondhand embarrassment for him," an individual wrote.

"Bill Clinton doesn’t know how to pronounce her name? Why is he even a speaker? I thought the party was pro women? He makes a mockery of that message," someone else remarked.

"So Bill Clinton knows Kamala so well and has so much confidence in her, yet he can’t pronounce her name properly. when you know someone, you know how to properly address them.l," another user chimed in.

"So…. Which one of those Fawning sycophants is going to tell Bill Clinton, who apparently cares so much about her highness, that he mispronounced Kamala’s name more than once???" read a remark.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.