White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre used her time at the podium to shut down an odd question from a reporter, accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of “code-switching,” Raw Story reports.
As Jean-Pierre circled the room to take questions from numerous media White House correspondents, Fox News’s reporter Peter Doocy asked about Harris’s alleged Southern accent. Doocy claimed Harris sounded different during speeches she gave in Detroit and Pittsburgh. “Since when does the VP have what sounds like a Southern accent?” he asked. He continued to describe how the Democratic presidential nominee used one tone of voice while speaking about unions. “She used the same line in Pittsburgh, and it sounded like she at least had some kind of a Southern drawl…”
Before the reporter could continue, the press secretary shut the question down, asking, “Do you hear the question that…I mean, do you think Americans seriously think that this is an important question?”
Jean-Pierre continued to let Doocy know some of the things voters do care about, like the economy and lowering costs. “They care about healthcare. That’s what Americans care about,” she said. She checked him on his style of questioning, alluding that he could learn a thing or two from a
fellow reporter who allegedly asked about democracy and freedom. “I’m not even going to entertain some question about…it’s just…hearing it sounds so ridiculous,” Jean-Pierre said.“It’s just insane.”
Doocy continued asking if Harris talks with an accent during White House meetings, and the press secretary responded, “We’re so moving on.”
According to the Daily Beast, Doocy’s question referred to a side-by-side clip of Harris speaking at both events. The clip, from the campaign of former President Donald Trump, accused the Vice President of using the same lines to encourage union workers. “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,” Harris said in Detroit.
She then allegedly used the same phrasing in Pittsburgh.
As Harris was raised in Berkeley, California, there was a heavy influence of Black culture in the Bay Area. More than three million Black Southerners left the region during the Great Migration, with several ending up in the northern California area.
Harris’s alleged “code-switching” could result from the African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) first being acknowledged as a separate language in the same region. The Oakland Unified School District approved it as a second language in 1996. However, the tone has become quite confusing for Democratic critics like Fox News personalities and GOP leaders.
In 2007, former Fox host Tucker Carlson made similar comments about former President Barack Obama’s accent during his first presidential campaign.
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