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3 year oldKamala Harris has sparked a huge backlash after wiping her hand on her pants immediately after shaking hands with the South Korean president.
Footage of the “faux pas” went viral on Twitter, with thousands criticising the US Vice President for her “insulting” action.
However, many have argued the reaction would have been significantly worse had she been a Republican leader. One said it would have been “the end of the world” had it been Donald Trump.
In the clip, Ms Harris appears to wipe her hand on her pants after a handshake with Moon Jae-in.
The pair were speaking at a press conference following a chat about North Korea, global health and the “root causes” of migration to the US from Central America, Harris later wrote on Twitter.
One social media user accused Ms Harris of being “disrespectful” to the South Korean leader.
They said on Twitter: “This is the USA VP? Not only disrespectful, but it would be “racist” if this was a Republican, all over the news for sure.
“Double standards on full display.”
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Another wrote: “Wow! That’s so embarrassing!”
And one person commented: “Kamala Harris insults the South Korean President Moon Jae-in by wiping her hand off after shaking his hand.”
The footage, which has racked up hundreds of thousands of views, was even discussed on Sky News Australia.
Host Rowan Dean said: “Had it been Donald Trump can you imagine the outrage that would have occurred?
“It would have been the end of the world.”
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“We are living in COVID. I immediately wash my hands after touching someone else’s,” one person said on Twitter.
However, some were quick to defend Ms Harris as she met the leader unmasked in the middle of the pandemic.
Another wrote: “The criticism of the VP is ridiculous … it probably was just a natural reaction that all of us have been doing for over a year now … not a personal affront to the South Korean President.”
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