Excruciatingly awkward silence after Kamala gaffe: ‘Dying from embarrassment’

“We are all here because we are fighting for a democracy and for the right of people to be heard and seen,” the Democratic nominee explained to the exuberant crowd in Ann Arbor, Mich. 

“We’re not about the enemy within. We know we are all in this together. That’s what we are fighting for,” Harris added.

The lines drew applause from her supporters and chants of “Ka-ma-la, Ka-ma-la.”

Apparently eager to move her stump speech along, Harris deployed what many on social media called a “cringe” joke that abruptly shut down the cheers. 

“Now I want each of you to shout your own name. Do that,” Harris demanded. 

The befuddled crowd went almost silent as the vice president laughed at the confusion she created. 

“It’s about all of us,” Harris explained, before moving on with her speech. 

Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller shared a clip of the awkward moment on X, captioning it with three facepalm emojis. “Classic Kamala! Her lack of connection with the audience is cringe-worthy,” another X user wrote. “This is not leadership!” 

Several people compared Harris’ rally request to the incompetent and cringe-worthy behaviour of Selina Meyer – the fictional vice president on the hit HBO comedy show “Veep”. 

“I swear they could redo Veep with clips of Kamala and it would be even funnier than the original,” an X user wrote. 

“This is the single most awkward political rally moment in American history,” conservative commentator Benny Johnson tweeted.

“Nothing else even comes close. I have died from second-hand embarrassment.”

Harris was mocked earlier on Monday when during a tour of a semiconductor plant in Saginaw she asked if she could touch a razor-sharp piece of silicon on display at the manufacturing facility. 

“Do not touch it,” a hard-hat wearing factory worker immediately told the vice president, as her hand hovered over a rod of the metalloid. 

Harris was accompanied at the Ann Arbor rally by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, who performed several songs ahead of the Democratic nominee’s speech. 

Last week, some Harris supporters in Houston were left disappointed that Grammy-award winning artist Beyonce’ didn’t perform during a brief appearance at a rally for the vice president. 

This article was originally published by the New York Post and republished with permission.