Kamala Harris is accused of adopting a southern drawl for just one debate question: Senator ‘used different accent’ while making impassioned ‘sermon’ on the Democratic party taking the black vote for granted
- Harris claimed Democrat candidates ‘show up in a black church’ at election time
- ‘The question has to be, where you been? What are you gonna do?’ she asked
- Harris’ speech was compared to a sermon and received applause in Georgia
- But others accused her affecting the accent like Hillary Clinton has in the past
Kamala Harris has been accused of adopting a southern drawl last night when discussing how the Democratic party had taken the black vote for granted.
The Senator was asked about her recent criticism of Pete Buttigieg’s approach to African-American voters at the debate in Georgia.
Harris replied that candidates had been taking for granted ‘the backbone of the Democratic Party … they show up when it’s, you know, close to election time and show up in a black church and want to get the vote.’
She added: ‘When black women are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth in America, when the sons of black women will die because of gun violence more than any other cause of death, when black women make 61 cents on the dollar as compared to all women, who tragically make 80 cents on the dollar, the question has to be, where you been?’
Senator Kamala Harris claimed that candidates had been taking for granted ‘the backbone of the Democratic Party … they show up when it’s, you know, close to election time and show up in a black church and want to get the vote’
Harris’ speech, compared by TV commentator Bakari Sellers to a sermon, was interrupted at points by hollers from the crowd.
‘This answer tonight was extremely strong and a sermon to many,’ Sellers tweeted.
Harris spoke of reviving what she referred to as the ‘Obama coalition’ which she said was people of color, the LGBTQ community and the working classes.
Harris’ performance at the debate was also memorable for her tearing Tulsi Gabbard to shreds.
‘I think that it’s unfortunate that we have someone on this stage who is attempting to be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, who during the Obama administration spent four years full time on Fox News criticizing President Obama,’ Harris said.
Gabbard said her claim was ‘ridiculous.’
Harris’ performance at the debate was also memorable for her tearing Tulsi Gabbard to shreds
Harris is not the first Democratic presidential hopeful to be accused of adjusting her accent.
Hillary Clinton was accused of changing her intonation more than once while campaigning in the south during her unsuccessful run at the White House in 2016.
And more recently Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez drew criticism for affecting an accent while addressing a predominantly black audience alongside Al Sharpton in New York.