Following the breadcrumbs dropped by former President Donald Trump when he questioned the authenticity of Vice President Kamala Harris‘s racial identity (“she happened to turn Black”), Fox News journalist Peter Doocy used his time at a recent White House press briefing to question White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Harris’s intonation — what he called her “Southern accent” and “Southern drawl” — at a campaign event.
“Since when does the Vice President have what sounds like a Southern accent?” Doocy asked.
When Jean-Pierre refused to grant legitimacy or import to his question, Doocy tried to clarify, saying: [Harris] was talking about unions in Detroit using one tone of voice. She used the same line in Pittsburgh and it sounded like she at least had some kind of a Southern drawl…”
Doocy: Since when does the VP have what sounds like a southern accent?
KJP: Do you hear the question? Do you think Americans seriously think this is an important question? pic.twitter.com/W7a6SJnwDa
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 3, 2024
Jean-Pierre asked rhetorically in response: “Do you think Americans seriously think this is an important question?” Listing issues she asserted Americans do really care about, Jean-Pierre called Doocy’s question “just insane.”
Here is Harris in Pittsburgh, speaking at the event Doocy refers to:
Vice President Harris: I agree with President Biden. U.S. Steel should remain American-owned and American-operated. And when I am President, I will continue to have the backs of America’s steelworkers and all union workers pic.twitter.com/8sIOu1gKmo
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 2, 2024
Below is Trump setting up the narrative path to questioning Harris’s heritage, following a playbook he used effectively to cast doubt on the citizenship of former President Barack Obama. (Trump used his “birther” accusations against Obama, repeatedly questioning the legitimacy of Obama’s birth certificate, to help propel his own national political career and seed the MAGA movement.)