Following her Labour Day rally speech in Detroit, Michigan, Vice President Kamala Harris has been the target of criticism on the internet, with some claiming that she introduced a new “accent” to address the crowd. Social media users immediately began drawing comparisons between her tone and the well-known Looney Tunes character Foghorn Leghorn.
Harris emphasised the value of unions during the event, which was intended to build relationships with blue-collar union members in Michigan, a crucial battleground state: “You better thank a union member for the five-day work week.” You had better give a union member credit for their sick day. You should give a union member credit for their paid time off. You should give a union member credit for their vacation time. But it was the apparent change in her accent that went viral online rather than her actual words that attracted the most attention.
The Vice President was made fun of by Stephen Miller, a top assistant to the former president Trump, who said, “This is her seventh new accent in four weeks.” This is an accent she has never used before, literally. She was raised in Canada. The most phoney politician in history. Other reviewers had similar opinions. Johnny MAGA, a social media user, called her “Detroit speak” and “cringe and fake.”
Conservative commentators from a variety of backgrounds piled on. “She changes fake accents like she changes policy positions and political personas,” GOP strategist Matt Whitlock said of Harris, while professor and podcast host Gad Saad expressed his contempt for what he saw as inauthenticity. Greg Price, a former journalist for the Daily Caller, fanned the flames by comparing Harris’s speech in Detroit to Pittsburgh that same day and pointing out the glaring disparity in tone.
In another video released by the Trump campaign, Harris is heard saying to a rally attendee, “Let’s just get through the next 64 days, how about that?” before breaking into her trademark chuckle.
Harris has received criticism for her speaking delivery previously. She received criticism in July for what some saw as a phoney Southern accent when she spoke at an Atlanta rally. She was also made fun of for supposedly adopting a “French accent” when visiting a COVID-19 lab in France in 2021.
