Karine Jean-Pierre brushes off question about Kamala Harris’ ‘Southern accent’: ‘This is insane’
Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy asks the press secretary Vice President Kamala Harris’ apparent Southern accent and why Biden appears to be harder on Netanyahu than the leader of Hamas.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was quick to dismiss a question about Kamala Harris’ apparent new “Southern accent” when she was pressed on the vice president’s recent shift in dialect during a briefing on Tuesday.
Jean-Pierre was taking questions from reporters during her daily news briefing when Fox News’ Peter Doocy brought up Harris’ new “accent” that went viral over the weekend and was compared to “Foghorn Leghorn” following her Labor Day rally in Detroit.
“Since when does the vice president have what sounds like a Southern accent?” Doocy asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jean-Pierre replied, visibly irritated.
KAMALA HARRIS HAS YET TO DO FORMAL PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE EMERGING AS DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Detroit, Michigan, US, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Well, she was talking about unions in Detroit using one tone of voice, she used the same line in Pittsburgh, and it sounded like she at least had some kind of Southern drawl,” Doocy pressed.
“I mean, do you hear the question that you’re – I mean, do you think Americans seriously think that this is an important question?” Jean-Pierre pushed back. “You know what they care about? They care about the economy, they care about lowering costs, they care about health care. That’s what they want to hear…democracy and freedom…I’m not going to even entertain some question about … it’s just. Hearing it sounds so ridiculous. The question – I’m talking about the question – is just insane.”
Doocy proceeded to ask whether Harris invokes the purported accent in meetings at the White House.
“I’m just – Peter, we’re moving on. We’re so moving on,” Jean-Pierre said.
HARRIS MOCKED FOR ‘FAKE SOUTHERN ACCENT’ DURING GEORGIA RALLY
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during a press briefing at the White House. (White House)
Harris spent her Monday holiday in the Motor City hoping to shore up blue-collar union workers in the critical battleground state when she apparently unveiled her new dialect.
“You better thank a union member for the five-day work week,” Harris told the crowd. “You better thank a union member for sick leave. You better thank a union member for paid leave. You better thank a union member for vacation time.”
Conservative critics were quick to share a clip of the remark, knocking Harris’ “Detroit speak,” while criticizing her as “cringe and fake.”
“All of politics is a performance to Kamala Harris,” GOP strategist Matt Whitlock said. “She changes fake accents like she changes policy positions and political personas. Today she’s talking in a fake southern accent, pretending to be a moderate. Next week she’ll be back to San Francisco liberal.”
Critics also pointed out that Harris dropped the accent while making the same stump speech later that day in Pittsburgh.
“Same speech. Two entirely different accents,” conservative commentator Greg Price said while sharing clips from each rally, adding, “She’s the fakest human being that has ever lived.”
Harris has repeatedly been accused of altering her accent depending on the group of people she’s speaking to.
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In July, Harris was slammed for using a fake Southern accent while speaking at a rally in Atlanta. During her 2021 overseas trip to France, critics claimed Harris used a “French accent” while touring a COVID lab.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.