President Biden wanted to wrap up his appearance with the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors on Tuesday by taking a knee with Vice President Kamala Harris.
But she refused and chuckled: ‘I’m not doing that’ – leaving the 80-year-old on the front of the stage, on his own, in an awkward end to the photo-op.
The gesture from the president was met with laughter from the team and sounds of shock from the audience, including from his No. 2, who didn’t want to join in on the kneeling position that became popular with athletes during Black Lives Matter protests.
The entire ordeal was perplexing, as panic-stricken players reached their arms out to help the president up when it appeared he almost fell – but Biden was only pretending to struggle and landed in what he thought was an athletic pose with a smirk.
Earlier in the event, Biden also fumbled by seeming to forget Harris’ first name, calling her ‘CAM-a-la’ rather than the correct pronunciation of ‘COMMA-la.’
Vice President Kamala Harris (right) refused to take a knee with President Joe Biden (left) during a photo-op with the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors at the White House on Tuesday
When emerging from his kneeling position, players thought the president was falling and reached their hands out to help – but it appeared Biden was joking and landed in a defensive squat position
Biden and Harris, 58, appeared to not be able to find a good spot during a photo-op with the team, concluding a White House celebration for the reigning champions.
‘I’ll tell you what,’ Biden said before taking a knee on a small platform in front of the team.
Harris, the first-ever woman and minority to serve as vice president, sought help from the players to step down from the platform to pose in front of Steph Curry – but some audience members thought she was looking for assistance to kneel with the president, leading to another round of laughter and scattered applause.
The VP put two thumbs up then switched to a one-handed No. 1 sign as Biden knelt beside her on the platform while audience members and photographers snapped images.
When getting up from his kneeling position at the end of the photo-op, Biden awkwardly landed in a defensive squat position, earning another round of applause from the amused attendees.
Harris laughed as Biden took a knee and said: ‘I’m not doing that’ before taking a spot off the podium to pose near Steph Curry
Biden is shown kneeling with a thumbs-up as Kamala stands with one foot on the platform as they pose with the Golden State Warriors NBA team
Professional athletes began kneeling during the National Anthem at the start of their games in 2016, in protest of racial inequality and police brutality against minority communities.
What became known as a protest linked with the Black Lives Matter movement became highly controversial among the sports community – as attendees and spectators started ‘booing’ their own teams when they would take a knee.
The awkward interaction between Biden and his vice president came after he forgot how to pronounce Harris’ first name during his remarks celebrating the Golden State Warriors.
The president pronounced Kamala as ‘CAM-a-la’ rather than the correct pronunciation of ‘COMMA-la’.
Biden, during remarks at Tuesday’s celebration, mispronounced his VP’s name, calling her ‘CAM-a-la’ rather than the correct pronunciation of ‘COMMA-la’
While people frequently mispronounce the vice president’s first name, it is usually not in the manner in which the president did. The most frequent incorrect way to say Harris’ first name includes a gaffe in the inflection, which results in ‘COME-a-la.’
‘As Kamala said, we’re all closely monitoring the storms, the floods, the landslides all across California,’ Biden said as he mispronounced his 58-year-old second-in-command’s name.
The name Kamala was inspired by her mother’s South Indian heritage – and Harris set the record straight on how to say her name several times.
In a video from her 2016 Senate campaign, Harris released a video that featured children saying her name in incorrect ways and then the correct way.
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‘It’s not CAM-EL-UH. It’s not KUH-MAHL-UH. It’s not KARMEL-UH.’
In a 2019 memoir, Harris wrote: ‘[M]y name is pronounced ‘comma-la,’ like the punctuation mark. It means ‘lotus flower,’ which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture.’
As the oldest-ever US president, Biden has come under fire from Republicans, who have often questioned whether he has the mental acuity or physical fitness to continue serving as commander-in-chief.
The reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors basketball team gifted the president and vice president jerseys. Biden’s was No. 46, since he is the 46th president, and Harris was No. 1, likely because she is the first-ever woman and minority vice president in U.S. history
Defenders of Biden claim that he is just prone to gaffes and have pointed to his chronic stutter, which he says was worse as a child.
Biden has not backed down from suggestions that he is preparing to launch a reelection campaign for the 2024 race – and that he would run again with his current VP.
But the Tuesday mistake isn’t the first time that Biden has stumbled when talking about his vice president – and he has now twice referred to her as the president.
Earlier this month during a press conference previewing his trip to the southern border, Biden said: ‘President Harris led this effort to make this better in the countries from which they are leaving.’
While everyone makes mistakes, this was at least the second time that Biden has made this slip-up.
‘Happy birthday to a great president,’ Biden said in October 2022 when he was wishing his No. 2 a happy birthday during a Diwali celebration.
Another birthday-related gaffe happened on Monday, during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast, when the president forgot the name of the name of the birthday girl.
Martin Luther King III’s wife Arndrea Waters King’s birthday fell on MLK Day this year, so Biden said during remarks at the breakfast that he wanted to sing her the Happy Birthday song.
When it came time to put her name into the song’s verse, Biden instead mumbled over the microphone and appeared to begin to say the name ‘Valerie.’ There was laughter throughout the room.
