Nancy Mace Mispronouncing Kamala Harris’ Name Sparks Backlash

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace has sparked backlash after repeatedly mispronouncing Vice President Kamala Harris‘ name during an appearance on CNN.

“I will say Kamala’s name any way that I want to,” the congresswoman said after she was called out by other panelists on CNN’s NewsNight Thursday.

Social media users were quick to blast Mace, with some accusing her of being racist towards Harris, the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president and the Democratic nominee for president.

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On NewsNight, the panel quickly became heated after Mace repeated mispronunciations of Harris’ first name.

“I just did and I’ll do it again,” Mace said when Michael Eric Dyson, a professor at Vanderbilt University, pointed it out.

“If I purposely mispronounced your name, that would not be appropriate,” Keith Boykin, a political commentator and the co-founder of the National Black Justice Coalition, then told Mace.

Dyson told Mace: “You’re normalizing that kind of viciousness, ma’am. You’re disrespecting the woman.”

Later in the segment, Dyson said: “This congresswoman is a wonderful human being. 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 quickly shot back: “Oh, so now you’re calling me racist. That is BS. That is complete BS.”

Dyson denied calling Mace a racist, saying: “You don’t have to intend racism to accomplish it… your disrespect of Kamala Harris is part and parcel of a tradition of disrespect.”

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