US Vice President Kamala Harris faced backlash for her use of a new accent during a Labour Day rally in Detroit, Michigan. While addressing union members at a high school in Detroit, Harris attempted to connect with the crowd by adopting a more animated tone, which led to noticeable changes in her accent.
Her comments, including statements like, “You better thank a union member for the five-day work week…,” were particularly criticized for the change in her accent. Some detractors even likened her speech to that of Foghorn Leghorn, a character from Looney Tunes. The Trump campaign highlighted that Harris delivered similar lines in Pittsburgh later the same day but without the noticeable accent.
This incident is not the first time Harris has been accused of using a “fake” accent. In July, she faced criticism for a perceived Southern accent during a rally in Atlanta, and in 2021, she was mocked for a “French accent” while visiting a COVID-19 lab in France.
Harris, who was born in Oakland, California, to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, has no direct Southern roots. Her maternal grandparents hail from the village of Thulasenthirapuram in Tamil Nadu, India.
MAGA supporters quickly seized on the controversy. Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to former President Trump, mocked Harris’s changing accents on X, saying, “This is her seventh new accent in four weeks. She has literally never used this accent before.” Comedian Chad Prather also criticized Harris, labeling her accent as “SO CRINGE” and accusing her of being inauthentic. Similarly, conservative commentator Greg Price and GOP strategist Matt Whitlock both criticized Harris for what they perceived as insincerity and inconsistency in her public appearances.
