Michael Eric Dyson called out Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) for intentionally disrespecting Vice President Harris and Mace responded by coming unglued.
The exchange took place on CNN’s Newsnight with Abby Phillip:
Dyson said, “Let me just say this because this congresswoman is a wonderful human being. But, but, but when you disrespect Kamala Harris by saying you will call her whatever you want. I know you don’t intend it to be that way. That’s the history and legacy of white disregard for the humanity of black people.”
Mace replied, “So now, you’re calling me racist,” and Clamed that VP Harris doesn’t know what a woman is.
Dyson said in response, “White women don’t have the ability to tell black women who paid the price of blood to make this country what it is to tell them they are not real women.”
Mace talked about her own bio, “25 years ago, I became the first woman to graduate from the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. I thought my way through it.”
Dyson said, “So pronounce her name right”
Mace intentionally mispronounced Kamala again and the rest of the panel can be heard correcting her and saying Kam-a-la.
Keith Boykin who was on the CNN panel said, “You’re doing this on purpose. It’s disrespectful.”
Video:
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) gets called out on CNN for intentionally mispronouncing Kamala Harris’s name. Mace responds by wigging out and claiming that she is being called a racist. pic.twitter.com/NQCezYazrA
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 16, 2024
It was refreshing to see Mace get called out for what is an intentional effort to disrespect the Vice President. The right used the same tactic on Barack Obama by using middle name and calling him Barack Hussein Obama. It is part of an effort to other Harris and make her seem foreign and scary to white voters.
Notice that none of the panelists on the program called Mace racist, but she went there, because Republicans want to make this election about race. Trump wants to use race to divide voters and turn them against each other. That is the only way that the ex-president can win.
Rep. Mace humiliated herself and showed that the Republican plan to win the election is to appeal to worst in America. The same negative and divisive appeals didn’t work in 2008 and 2012, and they are showing no signs of being effective in 2024.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association