Two painful minutes of Kamala Harris
Published by marco on
I published most of this article in my notes in the middle of October 2024. This video still marks the longest that I’ve listened to Kamala Harris speak. Trump is a nightmare to listen to, but Harris also feels like every second is wasted. Give it a listen and see how you feel about it. I don’t generally listen to presidents anymore—I stopped analyzing State of the Union addresses when Trump became president—but, if there’s a silver lining to Harris’s loss, it’s that this kind of insipid abuse of language won’t be on the radar anymore.
Glenn Greenwald thankfully included a longer clip of the painful Kamala Harris “interview” with Oprah Winfrey, which sounded more like a therapy session cum sermon than a campaign stop.
It starts at 12;40. The text is ludicrous enough but, combined with her facial expressions, body language, and grating and supercilious tone, it’s even worse.
“Winfrey: What is on your heart to say to the American people as we have 47 days until November 5th? What’s on your heart to say to particularly those people who are still undecided or may be indifferent or on the fence still?
“Harris: We love our country. [syrupy smile]
“I love our country. [hand on heart]
“I know we all do. That’s why everybody’s here right now. We love our country. We take pride in the privilege of being American. [shoulders back, eyes seeking confirmation; Oprah settles back, hand to face, not offering it]
“And this is a moment where we can and must come together as Americans [hands entwined like a steeple with all the people],
“understanding we have so much more in common than what separates us. [lady nods in the background like she’s at church]
“Let’s come together with the character that we are so proud of about who we are. [sic] Which is, we are an optimistic people. [crazy-ass smile like she’d just expressed an idea akin to the theory of relativity]
“We are an optimistic people. Americans, by character, are people who have dreams [pops her fist] and ambitions [jumps in her seat a little] and aspirations. [hands held in front, nearly clasped, excited at the breakthrough brilliance of the ideas she’s expressing]
“We believe in what is possible. [points to the heavens] we believe in what can be [hand outstretched] and we believe in fighting [finger to heavens again] for that. That’s how we came into being. [sits up straight, throws shoulders back, holds hand wide, again as if having delivered a deep philosophical conclusion]”
This personality seems to contrived and fake. I would think that her campaign song should be Team America’s ‘America Fuck Yeah’, but she’s probably never heard of it.