Vice President Kamala Harris’s grandnieces, Amara and Leela, took the stage at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Thursday night to set the record straight on the correct pronunciation of their grand-aunt’s first name, “Kamala.”
“First, you say ‘Kama,’ like a comma in a sentence,” Amara walked convention attendees through the first part of Harris’ name. “Then you say ‘La,’ like ‘la-la-la-la-la,’” Leela added to complete the full pronunciation. The sisters, however, didn’t address America alone at the DNC. Award-winning actress Kerry Washington stood between the girls as she confirmed their lesson to America. “Put it together,” Washington said, “And it’s Kamala!”
Ahead of Amara’s and Leela’s DNC appearance, the “Scandal” star prepped the crowd for the lesson a
head of stating, “Confusion is understandable. Disrespect is not.” That includes former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has previously mispronounced Harris’s first name on several occasions and admitted during a July rally that he “couldn’t care less” if he mispronounces it. “Some people think I mispronounce it on purpose, but actually I’ve heard it said about seven different ways,” he claimed in a clip of the rally posted on X. “There are a lot of ways.”Unfortunately for Trump, Harris’ grandnieces were clear on Thursday night that there is only one way.
It was a family affair on the DNC stage Thursday as Amara and Leela weren’t the only relatives of Vice President Harris to speak to voters during the rally, and best believe, they all pronounced her first name one way — the correct way. “Like so many Americans, Kamala knows what it’s like to be underestimated and be counted out,” said her sister, Maya Harris. “She knows what it’s like to be the underdog and yet still beat the odds.” Niece Meena Harris, stepdaughter Ella Emhoff, and her goddaughter, Helena Hudlin, stood alongside each other the same night as they shared positive words about how the Democratic nominee helped shape them into the women they are today.
Washington hyped the crowd up to hear from Vice President Harris, who accepted the Democratic nomination later in the program and called her the “next president.”